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THE WEB INVADES LITERATURE (AGAIN!)

Just when you thought the hypertext vs. papertext debate sparked by the Stephen King e-book had quieted down, a new issue has developed. Last week, the New York Times published an article entitled, "Scan the Headlines? No, Just the Bar Codes," about a new technology that allows readers to instantly access related webpages while they read all types of print media. Now publishers of newspapers, magazines, catalogues, or even books can embed tiny barcodes or watermarks right onto the paper. The barcodes are then read by handheld scanners or webcams, and take the reader directly to the link. Instead of just plain "also by this author" pages in the front of your favorite novel, soon you may see a barcode that will take to directly to an online bookseller to purchase her other works. While the possibilities for this kind of "advancement" seem endless, the focus seems to be yet another way to integrate the Internet into our lives.

Thu, 04 May 2000 09:14:08 -0700