Reflecting on this week’s lecture, my main take away from the content is the concept of beginning, middle and end, and whether it is possible (or even worthwhile) to compare the browsing of the internet with the browsing of print material.

While I am not overly convinced with the usefulness of making such a comparison, I think it is a mistake to relate browsing the internet in its entirety with picking up and finishing a singular book.  The comparison in my mind exists between the internet as a whole, and an imaginary library consisting of every book or item of print material ever published.  I suppose you could go so far as to then compare one webpage to a single book, and compare the idea of browsing through different websites to choosing to read or refer to a certain book based on having enjoyed or found a similar book previously useful. One book leads you to pick up the next, in the same way that one might flick through various webpages on the internet.

In this way, the beginning/middle/end structure can apply to a singular webpage as from when you first open it until you click to exit. While you might not have read or seen everything contained on or within the website, it is not uncommon to have left a book unfinished, or only referenced it for the information you need.

There is no beginning, middle or end to the internet as a whole, just as there is none to the imaginary reading library I was talking about earlier. Each exist as oceans of information, and it is up to the individual to decide where they wish to enter*.

*Couldn’t bring myself to write “dive in”.