Prior to enrolling in this class, the only serious reading I ever did online was at www.theonion.com which, for those of us who enjoy The Onion, isn’t all that serious at all. My outlook however began to change when I dove into…I mean, thoroughly browsed, a couple of online readings Doc Hara provided us with. Two of these readings stuck with me (Carr’s Google and Jarrett’s Interactivity Evil!), and after thoroughly browsing, then thoroughly reading these two, I’ve gained a new respect for online literature.
I soon realized that the internet was made for more than just reading silly made up news or reading the latest scores of football leagues around the world. It dawned on me that people all over the world were using the internet for more than just fetish porn or stealing identities; someone somewhere was actually hammering out well developed essays and writings to post on the web for the benefit of others. This amazed me.
As an English major, I’ve developed the idea that anything worth reading for the sake of learning is in hard copy, in print, in black ink on white paper. It’s taking me time to adopt a new mindset towards worthwhile reading on the web, but I hope that by the end of this semester I will have read enough online to make me need a stronger contact lens prescription AND to share with others, as some have shared with me, the importance of such a powerful resource as the internet and all the good (writing) it brings with it!
So, cheers.
To the written word.
To the typed word.
To the chicken scratches on a paper with a coffee stain.
And the countless articles, weblogs, essays, PDF files, WebCT posts, etc. that are worth a damn and that are yet to be discovered by this aspiring author.
Literally,
Word.
