When you highlight text (and only when you highlight text), a small, “Learn More” balloon appears. When you click “Learn More” (and only when you click “Learn More”), further info appears.
When debating whether to include more information or less, this strategy deserves consideration.
It reminds me of Barend Mons’ derisive phrase a Christmas tree of hyperlinks; while he was mainly referencing the lack of information, I also imagine in that phrase the reader’s overwhelm when everything is hyperlinked.
There is, of course, a tradeoff, between hiding information/requiring clicks and presenting everything at once.
A post at HLit got me thinking about locative hypertexts, which are meant to be read in a particular place.
Monday, Liza Daly shared an epub demo which pulls in the reader’s location, and makes decisions about the character’s actions based on movement. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure novel crossed with a geo-aware travel guide. It’s a brief proof-of-concept, and the most exciting part is that the code is free for the taking under the very permissive (GPL + commercial-compatible) MIT License. Thanks, Liza and Threepress for lowering barriers to experimentation with ebooks!
‘Locative hypertexts’ also bring to mind GPS-based guidebooks as envisioned in the 2007 Editus video ‘Possible ou probable…?’ ((Editus’ copy of the video)):
In the 9-minute video, we get mouth-watering, partly tongue-in-cheek scenes of continental Europe’s quality-of-life — fantastic trains & pedestrian streetscapes,independent bookstores, delicious food, world-class museums, weekend getaway to Bruges, etc.– as the movie follows a couple through a riotous few days of E-book high living.
On their fabulously svelte, Kindle 2-like devices, they
read and purchase novels
enjoy reading on the beach
get multimedia museum guides
navigate foreign cities with ease
stay in multimedia contact with friends and family
collaborate with colleagues on shared virtual desktops while at sidewalk cafes
see many hi-resolution Breughel paintings online and off that I’m dying to see myself
etc.
Multimedia guidebooks ((e.g. the Lonely Planet city guide series for iPhone)) are approaching this vision. Combine them with (also-existing) turn-by-turn directions, and connectivity and privacy will be the largest remaining obstacles.
So then what about location-based storytelling? I got to thinking about the iPhone apps I’ve already encountered, which are intended for use in particular places:
Walking Cinema: Murder on Beacon Hill – a murder mystery/travel series based in Boston (available as an iPhone app and podcast).
Museum of the Phantom City: Other Futures – a multimedia map/alternate history of NYC architecture, described as a way to “see the city that could have been”. It maps never-built structures envisioned by Buckminster Fuller, Gaudi, and others – ideally while you’re “standing on the projects’ intended sites”.
Museum of London: Streetmuseum, true history of London in photos, meant for use on the streets
Historic Earth, has historical maps which could be interesting settings for historical locative storytelling
