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Message no. 13
Posted by MARK DEVALIANT on Monday, January 13, 2003 2:54pm
Subject The worm turns

Tracing the evolution of the written word.... From the

spoken history, passed into print, reserved for the

elite rather than the impoverished, to the

industrialisation of the printing press. The mass market

now realised, the printing press alongside the

photograph, becoming the tabloid newspaper and the

moving picture.  Technology now thrusts us into an age

of experience that takes the sensory input available to

every person of the dark ages and mingles it with an

education, to now, unheard of. The Bayeaux Tapestry is

but one example of this. Larger and more well known than

most, it is a suitable starting point for its fame and

poignancy. For the majority of us the chance to actually

see the tapestry will not come to pass. Until now we

could view it in print in "snapshot" as it were, missing

the overall feeling, continuity and "fit" of the whole.

Now it is possible for everyone, not just those

fortunate enough to visit France or have a access to a

suitable textbook, to see the tapestry as it is. This is

perhaps the future for all great works but what next?

Could Virtual Reality make it possible to gaze upon the

Sistene Chapel or look up at a lifesize version of

Michaelangelo's David? Viewing a piece of art transcends

merely looking at it. It becomes an EXPERIENCE.

Ironically it took 900 years for the world to be able to

see the Bayeaux Tapestry as the "average peasant" did,

almost a millenium ago.

Message no. 16
Posted by KELLY ANNE PURCELL on Monday, January 13, 2003 3:03pm
Subject by: Kelly Purcell

I could definately agree with some scholars that print

still rules.  I, as an individual, can learn things and

set them in stone if I write them down... as in

mathematics... you cannot always rely on the calculator.

 Actual print teaches us the way to do it without any

easy roads.

But I can also agree with new age technology, as I

believe the internet is a godsend when doing research

(among other things).  There is no longer need for

camping overnight in the haunted library to finish the

paper that's due tomorrow.  There is little need for a

dictionary, thesauras, or grammer book.  Last semester I

had the opportunity to write a research paper using

hypertext instead of a bibliography page and, OOOOHHH

MMMYYYYY, was it so much easier and less time consuming.

In early christianity, art became the way to portray the

story to those who could not read, which were many.  For

me, this is what the tapestry seems to have been.  It

made the information available to those who might not

have been advantaged enough to receive it manually.  The

internet is just this for me.  It allows me to go to

France or Australia to study, it allows me to find the

actual correct printing and words of a poem someone gave

to me, and it allows me to talk to family members or

friends 3000 miles away.

I realized after my grandmother died that she saw the

rise of major technology (1907-1998).  She saw the

creation of television, airplanes, and spacecraft.  She

saw JFK and Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis!  I no longer

laugh when an elderly person does not know how to work

the VCR or computer.  I regret never asking her about

all of these things and vow to notice and appreciate the

privilages that I will have in my lifetime.

Message no. 19
Posted by SHERRY M ISLER on Monday, January 13, 2003 3:12pm
Subject Hypertapestry: J1

The HyperTapestry is an example of the advancements of

technology and the power we hold in our hand with the

click of the mouse.  The internet provides us with the

power to travel all over the world through the digital

techonology on the screen in front of us.  The concept

of the HyperTapestry allows anyone to see the work and

not in restrictive book form.  My Dad is very much into

this same form of display and often from our travels or

where we live, he'll put up a 360 panoramic view of a

particular place for anyone to click on and see just as

if they were in that particular spot scanning the room

in person.  The ability of this technology is powerful

and compelling allowing the viewer to have a personal

experience, in a sense.

Message no. 21
Posted by ANGELA-ROSE MANESS on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 12:54am
Subject Bayeaux tapestry

     I think that the hypertapestry article is very

fascinating because of how Foys's story is told.  The

text really helped me to see just how important and

beneficial the internet and hypertext is.  I mean I know

how essential computers are, but when I read stories

like this, it really hits me.  Even though I know that

computer technology is such a beautiful gift, I must

admit that I like computers to a certain extent because

of the headaches that they give me and the strain that

they put on my eyes.  I don't know why I never had a

strong inclination for computers. After reading the

hypertapestry article, however, I realized that I have

lost out on some very incredible opportunities and

fascinating information.  I have shut myself off from an

electronic world of magic.  While I was reading about

how amazing the Bayeaux tapestry is, I was thinking

about all the other captivating works of art around the

world that I could view from the comfort of my own

living room within minutes.  This was just so amazing to

me.  I was left dumbfounded.  I just kept thinking about

all the possibilities that the internet holds and all

the doors of the world that it can unlock.  While I was

reading the text, I began to regret my past attitude

towards computers, but I also began to look forward to

the new texts that I can and will discover in the

future.  I was particularly intrigued when the author

was telling about the differences of learning about the

tapestry through "a linear narrative" and a "digital

edition."  He said that the central story of the Bayeaux

tapestry can only be read in one direction from a book,

but it can be read in all directions from a hypertext.

The importance of pictorial images really stood out, and

the thought of all the links and different views that

you can access from the web added to my growing

inclination towards computers.

Message no. 22
Posted by ANNE C BAATSTAD on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 1:19pm
Subject Hypertapestry: J1

I have to admit that I am lacking knowlegde in the field

of computers and technology so much that I only have a

vague understanding of hypertapestries, so please bear

with me. Hopefully this class will open me up to

computers and what the digital world has to offer me,

therefor increasing my confidence in my technological

skills. I'm not the type to engage in activities in

which I have no confidence in myself. Like Angela-Rose,

my dad is a computer buff. He knows how to do anything

involving the internet and can fix everything. There

have been several times where he sets up a web site

before going to Miami to board his ship so that my mom,

sister and I can see him waving from the deck. If it

weren't for the internet, he wouldn't be able to see

pictures of his cousins, neices, and nephews that have

been born in the last 20 years. He is able to read his

small-town newspaper and watch the news in Norway.

These small feats in technology have made me realize

where our world is going. Like Kelly said, we can go

anywhere in the world and interact with anyone without

leaving our homes. I also agree that although the

internet has made millions of everyday activites much

easier, that print is still much better. I don't need to

call a system support technician every time my text book

crashes or save my written essay on a disk for fear that

my paper will temporarily shut down and lose everything.

However, this class is based on the digital technology

of the present and the future and I am hoping, as I said

earlier, that I will increase my confidence,

understanding, and skills of this rising technological

advancement.

Message no. 23
Posted by MELISSA M RIVELL on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 4:26pm
Subject Journal1

This article offered me a new point of view on texts. It

amazes me how much you can do on the internet these

days. Like I said in my intro, I pretty much know how to

use my email and surf some websites. I definetly don't

take enough advantage of all the possibilities the

internet offers. To be able to view the Bayeaux tapestry

in whatever way imaginable and see it for all that it's

worth is incredible to me. I can barely imagine what it

looks like and how long it must have taken to set the

hypertapestry up! The hours one can spend with all the

different stories and different images! I think I would

prefer to see the Bayeaux tapestry in person, but the

second best alternative would definetely be the

hypertapestry.

This article makes me wonder what the future has to

offer for education. How much will technology take over

and change things for us? I very much enjoy snuggling up

in my covers to read a good book. I love the smell of

books too.  I love the way it feels to write with a pen.

So in that respect, I very much love the old ways in

text. But this article has shown me how much texts are

changing the ways for people to express themselves and

educate others. I'm looking forward to learning more

about these different texts and how to take advantage of

these opportunities in this class.

Message no. 24
Posted by NATALIE A PETERS on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 5:31pm
Subject Hypertapestry: Journal 1

I think the hypertapestry is a representation of what is

to come for scholars, students and researchers in the

near future. Being able to have a piece of artwork like

the tapestry viewed in it's entirety with all of the

detail of its theories and beauty put into one form of

media, shows the progression of hypertext. All of this

pulls together the central themes of the story of this

tapestry, from the beauty of the actual work, to the

ideas and hypotheses scholars have made along the way

about certain parts of the artwork. To be able to

actually see the tapestry in its entirety while being

able to link to stories and information about it gives a

whole new meaning to the ideas of present-day education.

The ability to jump from strictly linear text, reading

from, essentially, left to right, leaves the door open

to learn diagonally, right to left or any other way

possible.

The idea that hypertext is a link to the way past

cultures have already pictured and shown us their

history, makes me wonder why we are just thinking about

these ideas now.

Message no. 25
Posted by SUMMER A SMITH on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 6:01pm
Subject Hypertapestry: J1

To be sure, the leap made in the development of

hypertext is equivocal to say... the development of a

card catalog in a library. Such technology directs a

reader to directly what he or she is searching for,

without having to weed through unnecessary/unwanted

jargon. Without these developments one could spend hours

skimming through chapters of meaningless "fluff" or

wandering through columns and columns of bookshelves

before locating the desired text.

I wouldn't call it laziness that humans have developed

such a convenient technology, but I would call it

copyright infringement. I suppose writers expect to be

subjected to a certain level of criticism and scrutiny

-it's CALLED literary criticism. To deconstruct a text

is even acceptable, but to re-arrange?? The tapestry

that is discussed in "Hypertapestry" is a historical

document. There is nothing thought of in a more linear

fashion than history.

I'm not opposed to this new era of hypertextualization

(yes, I made that word up), but I do think it's highly

controversial. I think one who reformats an original

piece of text into something click-able must do so with

extreme caution as they tork and compile text that has

already been perfected, in terms of order, to avoid

defacing the original text. What do you think?

Message no. 29[Branch from no. 25]
Posted by SELENA EDWARDS RIESS on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 8:09pm
Subject Re: Hypertapestry: J1

Hi Summer,

I agree that caution should be used when reformatting a

certain piece of original text.  The fact that something

could be left out or lost when reformatting something

historical is a possibility that didn't even cross my

mind. Thanks for the "food for thought".

Selena :o)

Message no. 38[Branch from no. 29]
Posted by MELISSA M RIVELL on Wednesday, January 15, 2003 2:39pm
Subject Re: Hypertapestry: J1

That is a really good thing to point out. Thanks for

another point of view! :) ~Melissa~

Message no. 53[Branch from no. 38]
Posted by Dr. Suellyn Winkle on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 1:25pm
Subject Re: Hypertapestry: J1

Dear Summer:

A reconsideration of what constitutes plagiarism has

certainly been a result of new technologies and their

effect on our writing and reading.  There has been a lot

written about this.  I'm thinking this is a possible

area for a research project.  Hmmmm.

Dr. W.

Message no. 27
Posted by JOSHUA DANIEL COWAN on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 7:48pm
Subject Ve hav meny tapestries, and if you are a scottish lord...

It's interesting that no matter how far we progress in

any field of endeavor, that history will always find a

way to repeat itself.  In this instance it took 900

years, but we as a culture are now beginning to see the

advantages of experience over just reading about it.

You can read all about the Scottish Highlands, or even

have seen pictures of Germany's Castle Neuschwanstein,

but as anyone who has been there(as I have) will attest

to, nothing really compares to the experience of being

there in person.  Now, with technology progressing the

way it is, soon you won't even have to leave your house

to observe to the full extent the piece of art and

history that the Bayeaux tapestry is.  Just put on the

headgear and go.     At first I didn't understand just

how or what or why hypertext has changed the way not

only we as a culture learn, but also fundamentally

changed the way we look at things.  Now I see.  And

experience.

P.S.-Subject quote is from Indy and Last Crusade(If

you've been hiding under a rock the past decade:-)

Message no. 28
Posted by SELENA EDWARDS RIESS on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 7:56pm
Subject Technology: It's Amazing!

I look back on my high school days which, I’m sure, are

further back than the majority of the class, and I am

amazed at how far technology has come, enabling us to

learn.  The idea of hypertapestry is a unique tool that

should draw more and more students into learning about

art, especially art that is centuries old.

Interestingly enough, I am also taking an online

Humanities course this semester, and the course deals

with the arts and styles ranging from the 18th Century

to the Present.  As I read my first chapter, I was

amazed and fascinated by the pictures reproduced in the

“ole textbook”.  There were pictures from Louis XIV’s

Versailles Palace to the Pope’s Vatican, and I can only

imagine, not to mention, look forward to getting on the

internet and “surfing the web” so to speak for these

same pictures.

What a great opportunity to learn and explore for every

person, young and old, to have and utilize at their

fingertips!

Message no. 31
Posted by DANIEL T TOTEV on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 10:02pm
Subject Print Versus Hypertapestry: The Old And Tried Invention or the Ingenious Innovation

   “Print is still king” says Kim MacQueen and I think

that Internet and hypertext will not be able to replace

print completely. Even today when I am supposed to write

an essay on a computer I print my drafts, and then read

and correct them with a pencil. The reason for this is

that no matter how low radiation the companies say their

monitors emit there is enough radiation that after a few

hours before the screen, your eyes get dry and tired. In

some cases when people like me with complicated

astigmatism can correct their vision only with hard

contact lenses, computer monitors make eyes even more

irritable: it is more difficult for an eye to clean and

protect itself because it needs more tears in order to

keep the contact lens wet.

Although I prefer reading a book or a newspaper article

to digitalized text which makes my eyes drained and

weary, I cannot get all the information I want from

print text as fast and easy as I can do it using

Internet. Sometimes it will take me hours of useless

rummaging around books and newspapers in the library and

I may not find anything for my research, while just by

entering a few keywords in the library search engine or

in the Google search box I can have access to numerous

websites related to my topic. Thus, I agree that new

technology has many advantages and Martin Foys’ use of

hypertext is another evidence of cheap, express,

comfortable and free of limitations technology that

allows for a student to study an artifact, get a sense

of the real size of 230-feet-long tapestry and find his

own interpretation of it.    Foys probably was haunted

by the question how to describe such an artifact to

students who can only read about it in a book that can

offer either “continuity or detail but not both,” a book

that lacks objectivity and directly dictates an

interpretation of the tapestry to the reader. Of course,

he cannot afford to fly all his students across the

Atlantic to see the artifact with their own eyes in

France. Finally, he has found a resolution to his

problem: hypertext and hypertapestry give freedom to his

students to choose the direction of the story of the

Norman Conquest. They can read it from left to right,

vertically, diagonally and backwards; moreover, they can

find their own way of reading the Bayeaux tapestry and

add it as a new hypertext link. Thus, the objectivity of

Foys’ hypertapestry does not confide the students to

just one direction and encourages them to be creative

and critical.      Despite their disadvantages, new

technologies seem to have proven their benefits: it

looks like time and money prevail over healthcare. That

is why we will drive our SUVs without caring for the

environment and we will spend more time in front of TVs

and Computers sucking dry our eyes instead of enjoying a

journey to Europe. Thus, the world in 21st century will

be one village where you can hide in your car or at home

and see your neighbors only on TV and Internet.

Message no. 54[Branch from no. 31]
Posted by Dr. Suellyn Winkle on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 1:26pm
Subject Re: Print Versus Hypertapestry: The Old And Tried Invention or the Ingenious Innovation

What a horrifying and all too possible scenario...

Message no. 32
Posted by CARLING ANNE MARTIN on Wednesday, January 15, 2003 2:46am
Subject Hypertext vs. Print

I must say that I am a skeptic when it comes to all of

the technological advances these days but I'm getting

over that slowly but surely as I see it is inevitable

that I will be facing more classes like this one in the

future.  I would prefer to handwrite my papers and I

still enjoy going to the library and getting my hands on

some books instead of accessing all of my information

via the internet.  I am amazed though at how easy it is

to get all of the information you could possibly need

and then some online, and I am by no means saying that

the internet hasn't helped me out on many research

papers in the past.  I have to say that to me it seems a

little awkward reading text off the computer screen and

then trying to get the full "feeling" of a piece while

sitting at my computer.  I do think it's great that we

have the oppurtunity to access great pieces of art or

literature on the computer, when otherwise it might not

be possible.  In an educational arena I can see where

this would no doubt be usefull, but I feel that relying

on this sort of hypertext to give someone the "full

experience" is unfair.  In my opinion it takes the awe

and mystery out of the piece.  My favorite place to read

books is in bed and the place I like to view art is in a

museum.

Message no. 55
Posted by Dr. Suellyn Winkle on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 1:30pm
Subject Books and bed

I confess that my favorite place to read is still in

bed, too.  I am intrigued with how several of you

brought up the feel and smell of books.  I have some

really old books that I found when I was a child in a

box in our basement.  I will never forget their ancient

papery smell and how mysterious and fascinating the old

paper, old fonts, and old drawings made those books

seem.  I especially remember Swiss Family Robinson.  I

still have that old book...