In "Hypertext, Hypermedia and Literary Studies: The State of the Art", Landow and Delany suggest that “hypertext can be expected to have important institutional as well as intellectual effects, for it is at the same time a form of electronic text, a radically new information technology, a mode of publication, and a resource for collaborative work… Hypertext historicizes many of our most commonplace assumptions, forcing them to descend from the ethereality of abstraction and appear as corollary to a particular technology and historical era. We can be sure that a new era of computerized textuality has begun; but what it will be like we are just beginning to imagine."This passage was written in 1991, at a time when hypertext systems were available in somewhat limited forms such as Hypercard and Intermedia, use of the Internet was largely confined to academic institutions, and the term “World Wide Web” had only just been coined. Now, 15 years later, comment and reflect upon the impact hypertext has had on the world.

I feel that even after such advancement, there is only so much Hypertext can influence in the world beyond the computer. Within the "World Wide Web", Hypertext continues to play an increasingly important role. Now we have an easier time doing searches and stuff.

Beyond that, I guess we could say that hypertext emphasizes the interconnectedness of everything... you know that 'no man is an island' concept. But I don't go through my day thinking about things like how hypertext influences our life. It's just when I have to answer questions like these that I'm forced to think up something.= )