To take a break from the aggressive, competing forces of the E-book market, today I suggest an investigation of digital literature itself and what it truly means. The progression of digital literature does seem to be progressing towards many similar paths to physical books themselves as the e-book readers attempt to mimic actual books in order to appeal to consumers. However, the concept of digital literature still stands to trigger a new revolution as to what a book actually is and how readers approach the process of reading.

For example, while physical books do stand an opportunity for readers to interact with their text through marginal notes, footnotes, and such; they pale in comparison to the potential interactivity that could come from a new revolution of digital literature. What specifically is meant by this? I think one of the primary foundations to this new revolution of interactivity in literature lies in the ability to hyperlink. The internet itself is governed by hyperlinks which allow users to jump from one piece of information to another. What if books themselves had hyperlinks within them that allowed users to simply jump to an explanation of something that they did not initially understand? Say for example you were reading the classic novel Lord of the Flies and you did not have a firm understanding of what a conch shell was. To truly grasp the concept, you could simply link yourself, in the middle of reading the novel, to a picture and explanation of conch shells.

This sounds like an extremely helpful and convenient feature, however, scholars debate whether this is actually a good thing for literature as a whole. Considering the ability to suddenly jump from one place to the next at any given time amidst reading, it is very likely that readers’ attention spans would drastically decrease. This would make extended, more complex and in depth literature far more difficult for the average reader to pay attention to in an age of hyperlinks.

Hyperlinks do not just stand potential to link readers to extended explanations but also to link to other parts of the text they are reading. Reading could become an extremely active process in which the reader decides on the chronology to which a piece of text progresses. An article entitled “PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ABOUT ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING” published in the Christian Science Monitor describes one of the first hyperlink stories. “One of the first hypertext novels to gain prominence was a 1992 work called "Afternoon, a Story." Author Michael Joyce writes about Peter, who on his way home from work sees the aftermath of a car wreck and suspects it involves his wife and son. The reader can choose to move in disjointed fashion through the story screen by screen. But at the "end," it's not clear what has happened to the mother and child. If readers click on various key words in the text, they can pick alternative routes that yield additional clues and context for other characters in the story.”
While interactivity itself may be the revolution of reading itself, its obvious that it offers many negative consequences like the destruction of permanent literature and the decrease of attention spans within its readers.