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Webify Your Soul: Hyper-Media

The one new and different aspect of the Web is the concept of Hyper-Media, presentations composed of separate media parts and connections between presentations. It's interesting to note that Microsoft's vision of true OLE (object linking and embedding) is being supplemented and, in many cases, replaced by the Web's characteristic element, Hyper-Media. This makes sense, since the parts and processes of Hyper-Media are objects (media files) that are linked to and embedded within each other. The recently coined term Document Object Model (DOM) is a reflection of the evolution of the Web from a medium of clunky interactionf using static documents to a full-featured programming environment. JavasScript, Java, ActiveX, VBScript, and a wide range of embedded plug-in objects offer designers more than global distribution of approximations of word processor documents. Designers can now create an expansive and flexible environment for their audiences (well, the parts of their audiences with the latest toys and fast connections). This is the leading edge of Hyper-Media, but even things as simple as placing a graphic or a link to an FTP site or Usenet Newsgroup on a page are related. In its simplest terms, Hyper-Media is direct access through reference. It is inter-column references in the Bible or footnotes in a text book broadened to include just about anything a person can produce on a computer.

So, what are the limits of Hyper-Media? Aside from the designer's ability to exploit it and the audience's patience, there aren't any. Text, images, sound, video, programs, and any combination of these are relatively simple to implement. Learning how to do it is as simple as learning HTML or learning how to use one of the many programs that allow you to create the HTML to do it. Before you do it, however, I would caution all designers to remind themselves that just because they CAN do it, doesn't mean they SHOULD. Multimedia extravaganzas have their place, and some sites might warrant going all-out, but there are two priorities above Hyper-Media: audience and content. Let me put it this way. Have you ever had a piece of cake that was all frosting? Did you want another piece? 'Nuff said.