Hypertext Garden

This website really had a good point about navigation. When reading a book, navigation is pretty straight-forward. There is a table of contents that tells the reader what page a certain chapter is on and so forth. With the internet, it is pretty easy to have a simple, plain navigation page, and for many things.....like organizational pages, it is essential to have easy navigation. But the internet has evolved into something so much more and with the endless possibilities that people are aware, it is more than likely that people want to come to a piece of hypertext and want it to be a different and unique experience. It is not so much about having to read hypertext than wanting to read hypertext. The analogy to the garden is a good one. We know what we are seeing and what types of flowers they are but each has a different smell and are unique and the arrangement and experience of how you can put flowers and trees and grass together can be what makes the experience. I doubt people would visit a garden for very long if the garden was just a row of one flower then another flower and they were all separated and consistent. People want to experience the different colors and smells and have them meld together.

I really liked the random path website of the Rome picture collage. I stayed on that page and messed with those pictures longer than I had with the other sites combined. If the pictures had been in order and had been the same, I would have thought it to be no different than any other site and would have probably left it shortly. The fact that the navigation changed and the pictures constantly changed made my experience that much more meaningful. It caught and held my attention and that is very important considering the vast amounts of websites and information out there to absorb and to determine which ones will stick in your mind. It made me more interested in the site, it made me more interested in the person that owned the site and what they had to say. They held my attention long enough for me as a reader to care. That is what makes a website successful.