Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!ames!lll-lcc!pyramid!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor
From: throopw@dg-rtp.DG.COM (Wayne A. Throop)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: The Aesthetics of Computers
Message-ID: <1504@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
Date: 29 Jan 88 07:43:19 GMT
Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM
Lines: 38
Approved: taylor@hplabs

First off, I prefer reference materials, however voluminous, to be online.  

Dave Taylor, in his original article on this subject, commented:

> Hmmm...as I think about it, I realize that there *is* a category of
> textual information that I prefer to have on-line; program listings.
> By extension, I surmise that non-linear information is easier to
> digest in an environment that supports *finding* a specific reference
> quickly (e.g. hypertext).

Indeed... hence my example of reference material, which is very non-linear.

Note that the organization of text into a linear or non-linear form may
be affected by the choice of delivery vehicle, so that "I prefer to do X
by paper and Y by on-line tools" becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Note that there is nothing intrinsic about on-line text presentation
that prevents it from being equal to or superior to printed presentation
even for linear organizations.  The main reason that I prefer printed
presentation for linearly organized material is that it is easier on the
eye, and it is easier to apply eye-hand co-ordination to the task of
flipping to nearby text, making this more comfortable in a printed
presentation.

I suspect that if the appearance of text on a monitor could be improved
to be less eye-straining, and at the same time improve scrolling to be
less jerky or "simulated-looking", I might start to prefer the on-line
method for essentially every text/graphics presentation.

Sue Raul, in a more recent article, commented:

> I prefer composing (in words, that is) on-line too.  For large scale 
> editing, yes, I do the same with a printout and pen in hand. (whaddya know!)

Yup.  Me too.  Even for tree-organized things.  If I'm proofreading a
massive amount of stuff in a linear fashion, I print it out.

Wayne Throop