never-ending timeline

1991-Pelle Ehn (Swedish professor of design) and Morten Kyng (Danish professor of "pervasive computing") led the Scandinavian "Utopia" project which worked with the user to design new interfaces for computer software. Their work, chronicled in the essay "Cardboard Computers" influenced the design of all software which followed.

1991-Chip Morningstar (developer of software and large-scale interactive gaming communities) and Randall Farmer (also a pionneer in the field of computer gaming communities) developed Habitat, the precursor to modern "Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games." This project is described in detail in "The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat."

1991-J. David Bolter (1951-present). American professor of communication and culture. He, along with John B. Smith and Michael Joyce created the "Storyspace" system for writing and editing hypertext fiction. His essay "Seeing and Writing" discusses the effects of technology on the writing process.

1991-Stuart Moulthrop. American author and innovator of electronic literature and hypertext fiction. His essay "You Say You Want a Revolution?" describes the role of hypertext in relation to other media.

1991-Robert Coover (1932-present). American professor and author of "fabulation and metafiction." His article "The End of Books" advocates hypertext writing and fiction.

1993-Scott McCloud (1960-present). American cartoonist. His book "Understanding Comics" is a comic which explains the "neglected art" of comics. This was basically the first study of the medium, it started the shift toward a more serious regard for comics as an art form.

Reaction:
Phew, 1991 was a big year.

We all know how I hate gaming communities like Ultima Online. I don't understand why these things need to exist. But the work of Chip Morningstar and Randall Farmer took me back a bit, mainly because they mentioned Palace, a really early virtual world I was into for a minute in junior high. It was basically like instant messaging with avatars, where instead of chat rooms as a link and a new screen, you moved your character into a virtual room. I got bored with it really quickly though, I prefer the real world (you couldn't make your character do very much either).

I don't think hypertext as we know it could ever replace television, it's just not user-friendly enough. The book as we know it might someday cease to exist, however, the linear novel will never die.

I can't believe I haven't heard of Scott McCloud! I live for graphic novels, and I think Dan Clowes is possibly the greatest storyteller of all time. McClouds comic in the book was so witty, explaining comics with a comic--genius! His representation of himself also reminded me of that tutorial that early macs always came with, you know, the guy sitting at the desk teaching you how to use the mouse and create folders and documents and other basic computer activities.