The first publications to roll off the printing presses in 1450 were the
old manuscripts. People then were more intrigued by the fact that a
machine could produce the written form than they were interested in the
substance of the form itself. But as printers began to look for more
ways to expand their market (and make a profit) and as readers sought
material which stimulated and challenged them, the focus turned to the
content-the creative possibilities of the new medium.
From reproducing old manuscripts, printers turned to translations (of Greek and Roman myths), then to epistles, day books and character stories (biographies). And these helped to pave the way for the novel. Still it was almost 200 years after the invention of the printing press before this innovative and creative genre emerged.
No one expects to wait 200 years for the electronic medium to give rise to its own creative forms. But there is still a long way to go before the innovative/artistic potential of the new medium begins to be realised. Just as the early printers transferred the old manuscripts to the new medium, so do we now see old forms of print being transferred to CD ROM format. (The majority of successful CD ROMs are conversions from books.)
It could be said that the response at this stage is more one of marvelling at the existence of the electronic medium, at the fact that it can be done, than it is one of appreciating the unique and distinctive artistic nature of the product.
The challenge for electronic producers at the moment is to develop "content" that is medium appropriate, and which extends the artistic and critical faculties. And there are many reasons for concluding that this won't take the form of a CD ROM.
One of the fundamental differences between the book and the electronic medium is that print remains stable, defined, fixed while the electronic can constantly be changed, upgraded, --providing the latest information; "hot off the press". Which is why the CD ROM has all the disadvantages of the book -- {It is set, unchanging} -- and none of the advantages of the electronic - where the user can interact, upgrade and change the material as required. Making their own mark on the information provided.
This doesn't mean that we can't learn from the old print genres. The basic attraction of novels (and computer games) is that they have an outcome. A primary reason that people read novels is to find out what happens in the end. A primary reason for playing computer games is to win/lose, or have some form of resolution. And these critical ingredients are not yet built into the creative on-line forms available.
The Internet for example provides a vast public market place - a street bazaar where users can set up their own stalls, as well as sample the products of others. And while much can be said of the value of street bazaar information shopping, it has little of the compelling and artistic attraction which goes with fiction, or computer games-outcome.
This is why one of the next stages of the development of the medium is the focus on content. Too often the discussions--and the determinations--are currently concerned with the technology, rather than the artistic and creative possibilities. And in providing an electronic form which combines outcome with the vast anarchic freedom of the Internet, we will not only devise a product that rivals the achievement and popularity of the novel, we will have a whole new range of skills to teach with, and a new range of abilities and talents and artistic and intellectual possibilities--to teach the next generation.
Dr Dale Spender is a researcher, broadcaster, public speaker, teacher, author and editor of more than thirty books. Dr Spender is an expert in the fields of language, communication, writing, editing, publishing and equity. She is an international columnist and convenor of the Australian Society of Authors technology sub-committee.
