The pages in this book are a printout of an experiment in writing a different kind of book, a book to be read on a computer screen instead of from paper pages. Its basic style format is endeavoring to say all one has to say on what would be one side of a piece of 8-1/2" by 11" paper, or 2 sides of one page, or if one has a great deal to say about a complex subject, 2 sides of 2 sheets of paper, and, if the everything on one or two pages style (or 2 to 6 computer screens) prompts a question about more information, using the capabilities of a computer {html code to click on underlined words) to access the additional information almost instantly.
Why such a severe restriction on length (as twosides of one 8-1/2 x 11" piece of paper)?
With increasing information overload confronting almost everyone at this time, fewer and fewer people, and in fact virtually no one has the time or inclination any more to read a non fiction book of several hundred pages or even 50 to 60 pages from cover to cover.
"Reading books" is going out of style as a new kind of human comes into existence on the Earth evolved by the processes of nature to adapt to electronic data accessing, (see the selection in this "book" discussing 18 "homo net" replacing "homo sapiens sapiens".
This is experimenting with a new writing style at the time of a transition from "literacy" meaning reading printed pages, to literacy meaning "computer literacy" (instant access on a need to know basis to astronomically more information than a human hydrocarbon based data processing system is able to handle).
Within 20 years in the future (from 1995 AD) "reading and writing" will probably go the way of the horse and buggy being replaced by automobiles.
A "literate" person will no longer actually "read pages of a book printed on paper, or use a "writing device" such as pen and paper or a typewriter or computer keyboard. Instead one will hear a computer voice read the words on a computer screen with the words heard either through the same speaker as one's radio or TV, or hear the words formed in one's head by electronics in a hat one wears.
"Writing" will consist of speaking the words of what one "writes" and computer voice recognition converting the words it hears spoken to a computer file.
At this transition time, computer ads describe how "keyboards and pointing devices are "easier to use" than those of competitors, in computers weighing only 2 or 3 pounds.
Without keyboards, and with virtual reality or holographic viewing accomplished by directing a beam into the cornea of one's eyes so that what used to be a "computer screen" turns into an "image hanging in the air before one's eyes", all of the data bases on the Earth and anyone on the Earth will be accessed in seconds with a computer having the capacity of current "lap tops" in the wrist watch one wears.
To "communicate" as a homo net, you talk to your wrist watch as you hold it in such a way that it directs a beam into your eyes.
The "response" you accomplish is to see a holographic image of whoever you are "talking to" as a talking head hanging in space before your eyes.
In the case of what used to be called "reading something", you can tell your wrist watch to use the "words heard in brain" option, or if you want to pretend you are doing it the way homo sapiens sapiens did it for 4000 years or so before "homo netT" appeared, tell your wrist watch to display simultaneously as a holograph hanging in space before you a book with the pages turning as you hear what is on the pages being spoken in your head.
Current trends toward such a homo net comunication procedure are PDA's (Personal Digital Assistant) with pocket size LCD screen and earphones instead of in brain spoken words and retina hologram display (RHD). See NTK project on page 94 of the printed version of this Internet book.
For now, however, the new kind of computer book to display on a computer screen requires that its original manuscript be written in the computer language called HTML, which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.
Hyper Text Markup Language is designed to do two things:
1. Make it easier to read a book displayed on a computer screen.
2. Make it possible to switch back and forth quickly to footnotes, additional information, or other documents (or books, or chapters of a book), in a data base consisting either of up to hundreds of HTML files on the computer from which an HTML book is being displayed by a computer, or any of thousands or hundreds of thousands of HTML files in other computers all over the Earth, which includes the vast data bases of university, regular, and technical libraries all over the Earth that are connected to and can be accessed using Internet and the World Wide Web or www.
The way HTML indicates that a switch can be made to other additional information is by underlining words, and on some computers displaying words in a different color on a computer screen.
Clicking a mouse arrow on an underlined word switches almost instantly or in a few seconds to another text file that can be from any place on the Earth. Clicking the mouse arrow on the "back" or < symbol on a "icon bar" switches the computer screen back to the text you were originally reading.
"Making a book on a computer screen easier to read" (using HTML) has both advantages and disadvantages. Quick switching back and forth to other documents to read that can be from other computers anywhere on the Earth, saves the time of going personally to libraries and hunting through and copying reference material from a multitude of printed books, but it introduces the problem to the human senses and data processing system of "Information Overload".
Information overload is confronting a human with huge quantities of information that are far beyond the data processing capability and availability of time for a human reasoning and assimilation process to accomplish.
This produces a more or less automatic reaction when a human confronts such a situation, of developing the habit of not actually reading very much of the words one is seeing of a computer file displayed on a computer screen, and instead rapidly skimming through screen after screen of alphabet letters, and stopping occasionally to read a few words if something seems interesting enough and relevant enough to the reason why one is going through such a "data accessing process" in the first place.
It's not "reading" any more. It is data accessing. Its not "writing" any more. Its word processing. It is a new environment, a new way of life for humans.
To deal with the rapid skimming of hundreds of pages of text where one as a human does not have the time to read and assimilate complete statements, (a computer can assimilate thousands of words per second, a human dozens of words per minute), and thus the alternate human device is used of rapid skimming and reading only occasional words, HTML has a feature of displaying text on screen in 6 sizes of letters ranging from small squint to see on a small computer screen, to a few words occupying a whole computer screen.
This permits putting large type headings for paragraphs in a few words in large letters that can appear at least once on each displayed screen that are easily seen and stand out from the morass of small squinty type words that fill the rest of a computer screen, which in turn makes it possible to make what can be better or more convenient use of the PgDn PgUp (Page Down Page Up keys) on a computer keyboard to skip quickly through a text file to see what it says without actually having to read very much of what is said, to give a quick idea of whether it might be worth the trouble to go back and read some of what is said in small type.
The writing style suitable for printed page reading of a complete idea contained in a paragraph is not suitable for computer screen reading (a screen completely filled with words).
The homo net replacement is separate sentences set apart as paragraphs (to give a computer line space break after each sentence).
However, making such adaptions to presentation and writing style to fit the peculiarities and constraints of a computer screen, and adaption to human time limitations peculiarities, causes a printout on paper of what a computer screen displays to appear overly cluttered with the oddities of the HTML electronic document language. Many words have what appear to be unnecessary underlines.
Underlining in HTML does not convey a meaning of emphasis, but instead indicates another document or additional information that can be rapidly switched to (by mouse clicking on underlined words) with the computer on which the HTML document is being read, and the larger type paragraph headings produce a visual effect on a printed page more of attention distracting instead of rapid idea finding in a document being rapidly switched through with PgDn or PgUp keys.
How the same HTML document displays on different computers depends on the "style sheet" settings of the World Wide Web viewer being used to view an HTML file.
Different versions of Mosiac or Netscape display the same HTML file in different ways. Some permit printing, some do not.
Netscape as of 1995 does not permit page numbering or setting printing margins to allow for binding or to correct the last two or three letters of some lines not printing on some laser printers.
The best www Browser both to produce and preview HTML files without having to be on line with Internet, as of this writing appears to be Microsoft Explorer" It permits selection of type size for screen reading from tool bar
The following are sample type sizes without editing type styles in a browser, to check how he browser you use displays this electronic book..
The best way to send and receive email I have found so far is with the software "QUICK-LINK II", and a local telephone call dial up provider.
Do not use an "on line service" such as America On Line" or Prodigy.
Note : Mr Addison Brown passed away January 2000, this option is no longer available. The provider used for this electronic book and email to aab@teleport.com is teleport.com in Portland OR, for $10 per month. An additional $5 for a total of $15 a month provides the PPP connection to all of what is on the www (World Wide Web) using browsers such as QMosaic or Microsoft Explorer.
QUICK-LINK II makes it possible to compose email messages on one's own computer (instead of using on line time), get them just right, spell check, then send an email message directly from one's own computer to its email address.
QUICK-LINK II when receiving and reading one's email with "capture text" permits all of the additional email one has received since one's last download to be down loaded to one's own computer as rapidly as it is displayed on screen, and then read at leisure and responded to from files on one's own computer instead of using on line time to read and try to understand strange email and write replies.
The way the printouts of the HTML documents are accomplished in the pages of this book that use about one-third the amount of paper that an HTML "Print page" would occupy, is to global search and replace the HTML control codes in a document, with the control codes of the computer document writing language called "Fancyfont", sold by SoftCraft, 16 N. Carroll Street, Suite 500, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703. Phone 1-608-257-3300.
All of the ASCII computer files used to produce this book whether HTML formatted or Fancyfont formatted were produced by the word processor that is part of the Xtree Dos shell.
Xtree takes about 3/4 meg to 2-1/2 meg of disk space instead of the 20 to 40 meg used by word processors such as Word, Word Perfect, Lotus AmiPro, etc. and is a much more convenient way to deal with all kinds of file management including Windows files without having to type Dos commands, (moving batches of files to any directory or a new directory or hard disk partition, batch deleting all.bak files on a disk, finding lost files with incorrectly typed name or do not remember directory location (global list alphabetically or by extension all files on your computer), unzipping zip compressed zip files, viewing graphics files without having to exit to a separate graphics file viewer, moving or replacing blocks of text either in the same file or to any place in any other file, such as HTML global replacement of Fancyfont formatting codes, without having to contend with the one move and then lose it restriction of a "clip board" when using "Windows", and many more conveniences such as being able to send a whole book including all its ASCII text files, printer control files, and all fonts used in printing on one 3-1/2" 1.4 meg floppy disk for comment or review to associates or reviewers.
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Last update March 10, 1998