Digital Literature

 As people we are used to a linear structure, a beginning, middle and end. The reason for this is because it is the easiest way to understanding something. The first films or television programmes we watched, was linear so that we could understand the plot as easy as possible. When we read books we start from the front (beginning) and make our way to the back (end). This is same for words, we do not understand them when they are put in random positions (single letters) but when they are together they have meaning and therefore we understand them.

As years pass by, events occur and technology improves in ways we have no imagined they would. In 1994 Annie Proulx said in Books on Top tat "nobody is going to sit down and read a novel on a twitchy little screen. Ever". 15 years later we have seen technology such as the Ipad and the Kindle that allow us to read book, interact and do many other things from a screen.

Could this then mean the end of books? Hundred of thousands of books are novel available over the web and a large amount of those books are available for free. Using the internet for books is a lot easier as we can find a book straight away without searching for it in a library Although it can be argued that books are more portable as you wont need a big laptop or a computer to carry around, it can be more convenient to use the web as you wont need to flick through hundreds of pages in order to get through the book.
A larger question would be is this the end of libraries? The web has access to almost every bit of information that is possible. Going to a library can be seen as time consuming and pointless if you are unable to find the information you are looking for. Similar problems would be the death of the author. "The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author" (Roland Barthes). Narrative is become more and more like the web in which the reader is the author and the author is the reader. When information is put on the web, the reader becomes the author as they are creating that information and sharing it for others to use. Books however are very much restricted as it is author orientated as the author shares the book our to reader.

This shows us that narrative has become a lot more interactive in the last 15-20 years, which has meant our understanding of it has broadened. I think this is for the better as we are able to share our knowledge on a much larger scale through the net as books can restrict us from sharing throughout the world. Web 2.0 is easy to access and it is fast making everything around it easy to access too.

Books on top
linear story telling (beginning, middle and end)
The End of Books
Ipad 2 features