on Web Theory, chapters 5-7
Chapter 5, “The Look of the Web,” endeavors to understand the structure of the Web in an historical context, (through histories of “graphic structures” of computers and television, as well as through the development of hypertext), as well as through a slight engagement with semiotics. The first precursor of the ‘look of the Web’ as understood today is located by Burnett and Marshall in a cluster of developments springing from Apple, including the graphic user interface (GUI), icons, and the centrality of mouse usage. Burnett and Marshall cover well-trodden ground in attributing the first notions of hypertext to Vannevar Bush, (rather than Paul Otlet); still, the basis for hypertext is the same regardless of attribution: it would be a way to link information within one text (document) to information in another text (document). The brief review of the development of hypertext as engaged in by Burnett and Marshall (2003) takes an interesting, though, in finding connections with hypertext in other emergent expressions of culture, like choose-your-own-adventure stories of the 1980s and certain video games in the early 1990s, (p. 84). This series of connections suggest that hypertext may have captured a certain zeitgeist of interconnection; furthering this implication is the continuing “convergence” Burnett and Marshall (2003) write about in terms of different Internet-accessible content, especially Web-delivered content, and its graphical replication of existing “desktop graphic user interfaces,” (p. 85). With the combination of text and images—indeed, the incorporation of multimedia—that composed Web content, Burnett and Marshall suggest that first is (1) a replication of delivery as in magazines, then (2) technological advancement to surpass that possible through the print form. This same trajectory of matching and surpassing is also apparent with Web content as compared to television: advancements in television technologies, such as those that allowed overlapping layers or promotion of brands simultaneous with the broadcast, are models for representation of Web content, but then what is offered through the Web moves beyond. With television, for instance, the narrative is necessarily linear and leading, pushing an audience to continue down a singular path to reach a desirable goal (or story); with Web pages and hyperlinking, though, elements of disjuncture and alternate ‘flows’ are introduced – leading to a ‘web’ of possible narratives, or possibility for non-linear progression.
The exploration of the “Web economy” within chapter 6 nearly immediately echoes Bakhtin’s reading of Rabelais: in much the same way that carnival as it appeared within Rabelais is described as an equalizer, engagement in the virtual “agora” described by Burnett and Marshall is argued to have some sort of flattening effect, (but on institutions rather than individuals). Whereas Bakhtin emphasized the flattening of social distinctions as represented in Rabelais’ writings capturing the event of ‘carnival’ in medieval society, Burnett and Marshall (2003) sound off similarly: “[The virtual agora] is a cacophony of presentation and representation that deliberately violates divisions that we have set up through our modern institutions to operate distinctively,” (p. 106). (As an aside: it may be worthy of further comparison to draw out social effects of the Web that more closely mirror the dissolution of boundaries as happened during the ‘carnival’ of Rabelais as Bakhtin understood it; for now, though, focusing on the Web economy…)
Given the benefit of a decade between the bursting of the Internet bubble and critique, a contemporary reader of Burnett and Marshall might assume a precious—and incorrect—reading of the impact of e-commerce given their relatively close temporal stance; it is worthy of note—and perhaps praise—that the authors have instead proven to be prescient in their understanding of the emergent Web economy. At the time of their writing, Burnett & Marshall (2003) indicated a common-sense reaction of e-commerce shortening the supply chain and a resulting effect on bricks-and-mortar businesses; in their words, “the Web represents a possible location for a transformation of our consumer society and a moment where new ‘department’ store equivalents such as Amazon.com emerge from the wired world to surpass their twentieth-century giants such as Walmart,” (p. 119). To at least some degree, it is obvious that their speculation has been borne out; for instance, traditional retailers complaints about decreasing sales coupled with shrinking sales tax revenue seem to have motivated a shift to begin enforcing laws regarding sales tax on internet purchases. Indeed, much of the speculation of Burnett and Marshall has become less speculation and more commonly accepted as true, as regards an increasing comfort with online purchasing by consumers, as well as in terms of more and more businesses developing some sort of Web presence as a means of brand representation and/or sale.
Chapter 7 is startling in how neatly it ties the explosion of the Web to the free market, specifically as the latest form of technological advancement necessary for capitalism (in a long series of such technological revolutions). Burnett and Marshall’s (2003) caution about commodification of information across “all spheres of social and cultural life” still rings true nearly a decade later, especially as many of the specific examples of the commodification of information they lay out are still evident today. Just as warnings at the time of writing in 2003 gestured to lawsuits and attempts at legislation, any summary of the current state of regulation and access to the Web, and the place of copyright as regards Internet-accessible content, will just as certainly cover similar ground. The only difference may be the additional near-decade of legal outcomes, settlements, and additional proposed legislation to further support the notion that the ‘owner’ or commodifier of information is the consistent winner in such contests. Still, this wrangling continues today–for instance, in the form of the COICA Internet Censorship and Copyright Bill, http://www.eff.org/coica; http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3804. In sum, the grim propositions of this chapter are but precursors to the increasingly grim environment users confront in terms of equality and freedom of access. (Also, the notion of ‘political myth’ as evidenced in contemporary politics is worthy of a book-long humorous investigation on its own!).
References
Burnett, R. and Marshall, P. D. (2003). Web theory: An introduction. London: Routledge.