The Internet
If I have been able to see farther than others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants.
The Internet exists as a global digital network linking computers of universities, corporations, government agencies, scientific laboratories, and private citizens providing interactive communication between individuals and among members of networks.
The Internet revolutionized the field of communication to a greater extent than any other technical or social change in the history of humankind. The Internet created a worldwide controlled broadcast system offering the means to disseminate information, provide collaboration, and allow interaction among groups and between individuals through some form of digital operating mechanism. The extent of the effect the Internet will have on society in general and all aspects of the communication world is impossible to predict. Like all new media, it will converge with some media, change others, and possibly supplant some.
The relatively short history of the Internet may be traced to the activities of the military, which requested a decentralized, secure communication system in the late 1950s that could be used instantaneously around the world. The research arms of four universities in this country connected their mainframe computers to a network created by the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, (DARPA) funded by the military. Various other universities joined MIT, UCLA, Stanford, and the University of Utah to solve the problems with different computers communicating with each other over long distances using a standardized system called a protocol. The TCP/IP code of the protocol would tell a message where it was to be delivered and where it came from, and also how to reassemble the individual “packets” of digital information carrying the information. Originally the signals were sent using the circuit switched system used by telephone systems, but that system was inadequate to handle the amount and type of traffic intended for the Internet. Although the concept of breaking the information into packets and sending the packets along different lines at different times seemed to be inefficient and impractical, under the controlled digital systems developed by DARPA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it worked and remains the delivery system used today on the Internet, as the DARPAnet came to be known.
Once the DARPAnet opened for use for units besides the military and researchers, demand for a practical method of addressing and managing the system become important. In 1975, 100 individual computers were communicating on the DARPAnet, 1,000 by 1984, and over 100 million by the turn of the century. The user base moved from just the original users, to vast numbers of individuals using their business and home computers especially after the development of the practical and relatively inexpensive personal computer in the 1980s. A categorizing system was developed to facilitate keeping track of the burgeoning number of users since the original address was the numerical unique TCP/IP address for each computer connected to the Internet. A typical address was a complex number (e.g., 256.2.127). Instead of the complex TCP/IP number, the domain name system was invented. Each address consisted of a hierarchical set of host names (e.g., www.rbm.org).
The military separated from the Internet into their own system as the Internet grew rapidly and began to be used for communication other than messages. By the 1980s, electronic mail, or e-mail, as it now is called, became the message system. In the 1990s, the World Wide Web developed and spread rapidly as a subcategory of the Internet. In 1998, Internet2, better known as the Abilene Network, began operating between 220+ universities and research sites. Its purpose is to provide support for and advanced network services to members. Originally it delivered content at a rate of 2.5 gigabites (Gbps) per second, and later upgraded to 10 Gbps, with plans for a 100 Gbps by 2008. By 2002, 840 million individuals on 200 million hosts accessed the Internet. It is estimated that by 2010, 80% of the world will be using the Internet.
Today, the Internet has become a heavily commercialized commodity service in support of other commercial services. It will continue to evolve as new purposes will be invented and designed that the developers of the Internet never would have conceived of only 60 years ago.
Since 55% of American households use computers to connect to the Internet, the U.S. Census indicates that represents 62 million households. Ninety-five percent of American households with income over $100,000 own a computer, 92% are connected to the Internet, and over half are now connected through a broadband service, rather than dial-up phone service.
As a writer, this potential audience for your work should be motivation enough to learn how to use the Internet properly and efficiently. Although Americans do not spend as much time on the Internet, averaging 11.4 hours per week, as opposed to China’s citizens at 17.9 and Japan’s at 13.9, the 11.4 hours is half again as much time as the average viewer spends each week watching television/cable.
As an indication of the value of reaching Internet users, the New York Times newspaper recently combined its 40-member Web site staff with the much larger print staff. The merger took place to allow both types of reporters and editors to understand each other’s method of operating, and to integrate the staff to being able to work in both media as easily as they did their original job assignments. Other major international daily papers like the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal may consider such a move in the near future.
The broadcast industry also realizes the value of distributing its product via the Internet and other new digital media. Warner Bros. Television group in 2006 began selling some sitcoms into a combination syndication of both television and a broadband release. The Comedy Central cable channel earns over $150 million each year from the sale of download clips, advertising on its broadband service, and its comedy record label. MTV recently began releasing selected programs simultaneously on cable and on a broadband service. Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, launched a broadband Internet channel just for children. Much of the content for the channel will be provided by the Disney company with some of the programming offered for free and others on a pay basis. Comcast’s premier online service, www.comcast.net, offers news, sports, weather, stock market reports with streaming video, sound, and on-demand news stories, interviews, and animated cartoons.
People mainly use two types of formats to access the Internet: electronic mail (e-mail) and the World Wide Web (WWW). Both systems developed independently and both serve different unique purposes.
E-mail evolved from messages sent between scientists and engineers working on earlier version of the Internet, ARPAnet, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Originally intended to be sent through closed networks, its value spread from one group to another until by the late 1970s it became obvious a formal system of sending messages between computers was a necessity. The first commercial use of the system by Compuserve in 1989 followed an experimental system used by the National Research Initiative the year before. In 1993, AOL and Delphi connected their mail systems to the Internet and widespread adoption by others quickly followed.
A text-only message is placed on the Internet from an individual computer through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The message carries an address that the system recognizes and delivers to the receiver’s ISP. The address is in two parts separated by the “at” sign “@.” The first part is the name of the receiver, and the second part is the name of the ISP plus one or more subsections assigned by the domain system or requested by the receiver: [email protected]. If the sender requires graphics or a precise formatted message, then those items must be assembled on a separate file and “attached” to the e-mail. The graphics are then downloaded by the receiver if he or she has the correct application on his or her hard drive. The attachments may increase the memory required to send the message and the time it takes to download the complete attachment. People spend approximately 57% of their time on the Internet sending and receiving e-mails, in chat rooms, and instant messaging.
Chat Rooms/Lines
Chat rooms or chat lines allow the participants to send and receive messages between two or more participants at the same time. The concept was designed to give people the opportunity to carry on the equivalent of a telephone conversation by entering their conversation on the computer instead of speaking it out loud. Some chat lines are private and can be viewed only by the originators of the chat, while others are public and anyone can jump in and add their thoughts. Chat rooms do not operate on real time; there is a delay between messages. The length of the delay depends on the length of the message. The type of circuits used, and the amount of traffic on the circuits.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is a combination of e-mail and chat lines. Messages are passed between two or more participants without entering a chat room but the messages are passed in real time. Instant messaging requires a specific application and membership in order to communicate in real time.
Newsgroups
Another specialized form of communicating on the Internet is called newsgroups. Newsgroups evolved from Bulletin Board Systems that allowed users to post messages on a specific site where anyone could access that site to read any of the messages. If they wished, they could add their own thoughts to the topic being discussed. Within a short period of time an archive of opinions and thoughts on the topic become available for research or refreshing memories. Each newsgroup’s topic is determined by the founders of the group and generally is a subject of common interest by a group of people in the same profession or hobby.
Telnet
The Telnet application allows the user to log on to a remote computer to access information on that computer or use an application on the remote computer. It is only text-based and was designed to access such mainframe computers as the Library of Congress by researchers. Find an example at telnet:/locis.loc.gov.
The WWW originally was designed to provide scientists with a means of sharing information on demand without waiting to receive an e-mail. The system was text-based using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as the coding system. It allowed files to be edited on screen from any site accessing the file and later graphics, enhanced text, and all other multimedia were added by using Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) codes. HTML, for some people, is a complex coding system, but the code may be created by using preset Web editors that offer the user the option of viewing the layout on screen as it is being created. This process is called What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). Each location on the Web has an address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The form follows the format of: service://domain name/full path name. As an example, http://www.comcast.net/explore.html. A Web editor program will create the HTML codes, but you must decide on the content and design the layout. To access a site on the web, the user must have a browser installed on his or her computer. The browser is a computer application that interprets the HTML codes so the viewer sees the frame as WYSIWYG, not computer code. To locate a specific site, the user enters the URL in the browser and the browser will find and display the site.
The Web is no longer restricted as a means for researchers to communicate among themselves. Instead the Web has become a means for the casual user as well as the confirmed Web junkie to scan and surf in order to share ideas, thoughts, creations, create new contacts for socializing, to play games, and watch the news and weather. Most importantly, the Web offers the ability to self-program and control what you want to see, how and when you want to see it, and what you want to say about what you do see. The Web now competes with traditional media: television, radio, cable, magazines, newspapers, and even books. As such, it has become an extremely powerful force in today’s society that should be handled with caution and responsibility.
The very pervasiveness and popularity of the Web may undue its “net neutrality” that allows all users equal access without a system of fees for use and content control by the telecommunication industry or government.
Surfing
One of the most popular Web activities is called surfing. As a surfer you explore search engines like Google, Yahoo, and others. By simply entering a name, a topic, or a location, the surfer will be presented with a list of possible sites to open and investigate. The process may be followed for the pure pleasure of exploring or for the goal of finding answers to specific questions. Surfing can be addicting, leading the surfer to hours spent following a series of leads to new, unexpected topics. The danger comes from the uncontrolled and unsupervised nature of the Web. Anyone may enter any information they wish, whether it is true, based on fact, a fallacy, or an intentional falsehood. As a surfer, you must guard against easily accepting everything found on the Web. Crosschecking from different sources, including print sources, may be required.
An example of the types of information source that need crosschecking are Wikis. A Wiki is a Web site that allows users to create their own entries, edit some other person’s entry, and have your own edited by someone else. New pages are created using simple text syntax and includes hyperlinks to other sites. The value of a Wiki is the accumulation of information on a single source from a wide variety of different points of view and experiences. If properly supervised, a Wiki may be very helpful as a source of information as well as a method for you to publish your definition of the term in question. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki.
Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
RSS is a Web format designed to make distribution of news stories and other series of stories efficient and economical. To be distributed, the story must be defined in one of the RSS formats, each of which is a derivative of HTML. As a writer, to distribute your stories you must be able to write in HTML or use of one several commercial applications that will convert your input to one of the two present RSS formats. Once you format your story it must be registered with aggregators. They act as syndicators, making your story available to anyone interested in the topic by its listed title. People interested in your topic can check with their RSS feed and they will receive an updated list of titles. If a title indicates the subject they are interested in they can click on the topic and read the complete file. RSS feeds also may be downloaded to cell phones, PDAs, or voice updaters.
Figure 10.1. Wikis provide quick and easy definitions and a variety of sources of information, but since they are not reviewed in any systematic way, they may include misinformation.
The value of the RSS system is its ability to make a single copy of a story available to an infinite number of sites rather than having to duplicate a story and distribute each copy to as many sites as may have shown an interest. Designers are writing new applications that will increase the systems of sorting and matching topic interests with story sources.
Blogs
A blog is a diary of a person’s thoughts, opinions, and activities, with Web links open to certain people chosen by the blogger. The term blog is a contraction of “Web log,” but be careful not to confuse with the term Web log, which is a server’s list of a log’s files. As a writer, your blog will give you the opportunity to publish anything you want people to read and respond to. Some use their blog to organize their thoughts, while amateur journalists attempt to publish what they consider news as well as opinions. A blog may become a means of delivering a sermon or a soap-box speech on political or social topics.
One of the problems with blogs is their lack of rules or control. Without control, items on blogs must be considered undocumented, possibly inaccurate, intentionally libelous, or misleading from a lack of journalistic experience or effort. Interestingly, legitimate news gatherers rely on some bloggers as an indication of the attitudes of the public, and as an indication of what much of the audience feels it is not being told by the establishment. Families, organized groups, teams, or organizations may use a blog to pass information quickly between and among the group and allow immediate response to the information. Photos and audio files also may be blogged, if common applications exist on the blogger’s and receiver’s hard drives.
In order to create a blog, you open an account, name the blog, choose a template, and fill in the blanks. The process is much like creating any Web site, but with the specific purpose of communicating your personal thoughts to a select audience.
A specialized use for the Internet was developed to serve the business world. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) consists of two types of business. For communication involving sales, marketing, and other communication between businesses, business-to-business (B2B) evolved. Separate from, but operating on the same concept of interactive communications involving some type of commercial transaction, business-to-consumer (B2C) evolved. Popular B2C sites include ebay, Hotel.com, Alaskaair.com, Travelocity.com, and Amazon.com among many others. Businesses discovered people want to shop and purchase from the comfort of their homes or offices, and if they can get equivalent service and reasonably quick delivery, they will remain loyal to that company. But for the system to work, the Web site must be consumer oriented, include all of the information needed by the customer, and provide simple and direct instructions to place an order and to make decisions concerning payment and delivery.
The same qualities also must exist for B2B, except on a more professional and comprehensive basis. Today B2B is used for a rapid, secure, and efficient method of buying and selling products and services. The electronic system works much faster and more accurately than older, physical paper-driven systems.
Streaming media is a means of transporting information, not an actual media. Streaming is a method of moving audio, video, graphics, and even text, although that is a waste of energy since text may be distributed easily with other methods such as e-mail, RSS, newsgroups, and blogs. The methods of streaming are based on the large amount of data required to move video and audio on the Internet. Compression systems reduce the bandwidth required for video and audio streaming, but other factors also apply.
Streaming video or audio may be viewed/heard either on demand or live. If on demand, then the signals are stored in a server and wait until they are called upon to be delivered. If live, the signals move from the origination point to the requesting computer as the material is created and is available only once. The major problem with streaming using either method is the amount of bandwidth needed to stream video, with less for audio. Both media may be compressed to help reduce the problem, but newer equipment including fiber optic lines and other high bandwidth systems also help. Legal issues also play a part. The ease of streaming signals from one computer to another using a peer-to-peer (P2P) system tempts people to stream material that is not licensed to be streamed or may have copyright restrictions that must be cleared before sharing. Some security systems prevent streaming if the program has been encrypted to prevent sharing. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) also prevents sharing of some digital files.
A more direct problem with streaming is the existence of three different non-compatible download formats: Real (Real Networks), QuickTime (Apple), and Windows Media Player (Microsoft). The basic player for each is free, but for higher quality and greater download rate, each format offers upgrades for an additional fee.
Streaming radio programs and the entire schedule of a station has become the most popular form of audio streaming. The audio file may be listened to in real time or downloaded and stored on your own hard drive to listen to at your convenience. For audio fans, streaming must compete against two other new broadcast formats. Satellite radio and HD radio broadcast in a digital format and offer access to a wide range of program formats and music genres. Both require special receivers or adapters and neither is intended to be recorded for delayed listening. Both offer some of their programs on the Internet. Internet radio first offered advertising-free programming, but competition and expense of maintain an operation forced the operators to use some advertising to fill the financial gap. Internet radio is divided primarily between juke-box style continuous music operations and retransmission of terrestrial stations.
Figure 10.2. Each of the three download formats process and stream signals differently, but to the consumer, they offer approximately the same service.
Audio podcasts also are gaining in popularity but require a special program to participate. They offer the epitome of “open mic” do-it-yourself radio with little regard for advanced planning or critical thinking. Without government rules almost anything goes, but the format allows an outlet for people who have limited access to commercial radio of their liking. It also often offers rare recordings not available in any a store, primarily of independent bands who play original music for which they hold all of the rights. The danger, of course, is that even without FCC control any broadcast of licensed or copyrighted music is a violation of the law.
Dubbing audio from CDs or tapes to a hard drive and then to an iPod is not a violation of the law as long as there is no further duplication of the music. A transfer of the audio from one format to another under the control of the original owners without any transfer of ownership is legal. This process allows an individual to create his or her own program of just the music he or she wants to listen to and in the order the person wants to hear without the interference of a mouthy DJ or commercials. IPods, satellite radio, and Internet radio all threaten standard terrestrial radio. But radio has fought back with digital HD radio, giving listeners a wide range of choices. In the history of media, as each new media emerges, old media are forced to change and often improve from their former formats and operational methods.
To be able to view streaming video on the Internet requires a solution to the problem of bandwidth. Full 30-frames-per-second color video on the Internet is impractical as of 2007. Solutions have taken two forms: compress the signal to the point where it can be viewed, regardless of the loss of quality and size of the image on the screen, or develop expensive compression and restoration schemes that allow the delivery of full-screen images.
Most video streamed today is delivered using the Flash application that allows low-quality, less than full-screen images, designed to be downloaded or viewed live on a computer screen. The signal may be downloaded using a program such as iTunes or other fee-based systems. The television networks provide news clips directly to the computer. The low-definition signals are ideal for loading onto cell phones, iPods, and PSPs. The low quality is not important on those devices. But the networks also will deliver programming on advertiser-supported channels such as CBS’s “Innertube” used to introduce new programs and give viewers a chance to watch older programs from the network’s archives. Despite the move toward HD television and higher quality films in theaters, a movement toward the opposite end of the quality spectrum has created a demand for production for the small, low-quality screen. Student productions, small independent companies, even the broadcasters and cable channels are considering producing specific programs or program segments for the small screen.
Two competing systems to deliver Internet Protocol Television, (IPTV) will use different methods to deliver a TV signal to the home computer. The telephone companies plan on a system that is connected directly to the home via a fiber optic line. The other system is based on programming delivered through the Internet on a program-on-demand basis. Neither system is fully functional as of this writing, but major companies on both sides of the technical solution press for practical solutions to appeal to viewers as soon as possible.
A high-quality solution has been developed by a company that offers its clients the opportunity to deliver full-screen video clips with minimal download time. The concept was developed to enable clients to deliver to their customers commercials, trailers, or corporate communications at the highest possible quality. To view an example, access www.vivicas.com. If this format can be expanded to include full-length motion pictures and or television programs, then a solution to high-quality delivery of streamed video may have been reached. The problem of immediate acceptance and consumer use is the expense of the application and security issues.
When you write for the Internet you are writing for a mass medium. Sitting at your computer you may feel as if you were writing using a personal message system, but any e-mail, live chat, Web page, blog, or video game may be viewed by over 100,000 strangers. Do not enter anything on the Internet that you would not say to your grandmother or hand to the first stranger you run into on skid row. At the same time, the Internet may be one of the few contacts outside for the disabled, retired, unemployed, or some students. The Internet may also be a major factor in the lives of part- and fulltime workers who work abnormal schedules. Make certain what you enter has value and is not a waste of your time or the time of a reader. Use your skills for positive results, not just to kill time or to massage your ego.
E-Mail, Chat Lines, and Instant Messaging
Writing for the Internet is no different than writing for any other medium. The first requirement is to COMMUNICATE. Whether the message is for e-mail, instant message, or a chat line—if the message is confusing, misunderstood, inaccurate, misleading, or even incorrect, then you are not communicating. You should write as if you are speaking to a single person or group; if the message is addressed in that manner, keep your copy conversational but directly to the point. Rambling on without a goal or a reason for connecting is a waste of both your time and that of anyone who opens your message.
Be grammatically precise; sloppy wording and sentence construction is the quickest way to have your message misunderstood. Review using the suggestions in Chapter One, and if your word processing program includes a spelling and grammar checker, USE IT. But such programs are not infallible; you still need to know how to spell and construct sentences properly.
Be careful to avoid the following:
1. Abbreviations. As tempting as it may be to short-cut your message, the abbreviation may mean nothing to the message receiver.
2. Slang that makes no sense to the message receiver
3. Use of “code” of-the-moment that seem funky and cool but will mean absolutely nothing to the message receiver
4. Use of emoticons
5. Private or personal information
6. Inappropriate comments
7. Inappropriate language
9. Messages written in anger (Wait 24 hours after writing, reread, and then if you still feel the same, send it, knowing you could be committing slander.)
Remember, your audience may follow different ethnic, religious, and social values and may interpret your wording differently than you intended. Be aware that you have no control upon whose computer your message will finally end. This is especially important if you reveal personal data such as home address, phone numbers or photographs. Remember, you don’t know who is watching your message without your knowing, who it may be, and why they are interested in your personal information (icluding the CIA).
To make certain the party will open your message, ensure that the subject line accurately reflects your message. This is critical if your e-mail address does not reflect who sends the message. This is especially a problem if your address is a clever phase, slogan, or code that means nothing to anyone but yourself. Your address should not be your full name, but enough of your name so a receiver will know who sent the message. With the increase in spam and virus-laden messages, many people will not open a message unless they are sure they know who sent it. Instead, they will simply label your message as spam and your messages may then be shut out of some circuits.
More sophisticated systems of Internet communication appeared in two different means of exchanging ideas, opinions and information. Newsgroups serve two basically different purposes. First, all manufacturers of modern equipment maintain one or more (Microsoft has more than two dozen) newsgroups that act as conduits of information between customers and sales and/or service branches of the company. One of the advantages is that many service questions, especially on digital equipment, may be answered with an e-mail or written inquiry. Often, common problems may be solved with a review and reading of a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), which are listed on the newsgroup site. If those answers on the lists don’t solve the problem a customer may simply explain the condition and symptoms on the newsgroup site and wait for someone who may have had the same or similar problem and may offer a solution. The collection of FAQs, questions and answers become service archives that saves the company hours of service personnel’s time and energy. At the same time, the list may contain information on new updates, accessories, or items of interest to the customer.
If you supervise such a group, your title generally is Editor or Administrator, and you will be responsible for managing the site by screening messages and deleting duplicates and irrelevant submissions. As the administrator, once you have cleared a submission you then send it out to everyone on the list. The job requires knowledge of the equipment, an editor’s eye for copy quality control and the ability to make quick decisions so that queries are answered as soon as possible. As a contributor, you are expected to ask concise, detailed questions directed at a single problem at a time. As a responder, the same holds true. A concise, detailed explanation that will assist the contributor solve his or her problem without adding unnecessary personal opinions.
Blogs are a much more informal and loosely organized system of passing information. Originally, a blog was intended as a personal diary of the writer. The subjects were limited to items of interest to family, friends, and a few curious souls who happened to drop in on the site. Later, much wider range of topics appeared, including politics, religion, and news items of the day. Regardless of the subject, a blog is highly personal, opinionated, and specifically from the point of view of the writer. Anyone else who reaches the site may add his or her opinions with each new comment added to the top of the page, creating an archive of the topic. The editor may delete and additions at his or her own pleasure.
To operate a blog, you sign up for a Web-based service, either for free or a fee. Once you have the account you write your copy, edit it, and make certain that is what you really want the rest of the world to locate, read, and possibly disagree with. The same rules should apply to blogging as to e-mail. A certain level of civility, consideration, and reasonableness should prevail in both the original comments and the responses.
An interesting response to blogging has occurred in the past few years. Some bloggers have decided to become journalists without a portfolio, that is, without training, professional experience or the advantage of a second person to edit and check their “facts.” Blogs now exist written specifically as daily news sources on topics of the day. Professional journalists, both print and electronic, now check carefully many blog sites for leads and information on stories they may not have had access. Blogs have covered many aspects of the Middle Eastern wars well before the national newspapers and television networks were able to discover the information to build their own stories. The major problem with accepting information from blogs is the lack of certainty that their information is accurate, which questions their creditability.
Writing a blog could lead to a professional career in journalism, if the basic ethics rules of journalism overcomes the “anything goes” attitude of the blog world.
As you write interactive projects, you will be leaving the comfortable and familiar world of linear thinking and writing. Now your mind must multitask as you think through your project’s reason for being. Although all formats using the Internet base their operation on some form of interactivity, the two most dependent on interactivity are Web page designs and computer game designs.
Some of the shared techniques used in writing interactive projects are:
1. Staff assignments
2. Use of many different media forms within any one project
3. A structure based on some form of potential action taken by the user
4. Nonlinear story or pattern design
5. A reward for accomplishing the goal
Figure 10.3. Newsgroups serve the function of distributing informationoutside of the traditional forms of journalism and as a means of providing information quickly and efficiently.
Interactive Staff
The head of the project is called a Producer or Project Manager. Her responsibility parallels that of a producer in radio/television/film with some modifications. An interactive producer must be knowledgeable about all aspects of the field, including the ability to write, design flow charts, and know programming and coding.
The equivalent of a media director in interactivity is called the Lead Designer, Art Director, Interactive Director, Game Developer, or Graphics Designer. Depending on the organization of the staff, he or she may have greater authority over the artwork, graphic page layout, casting and character design, or interactive menu and link design.
A writer is called a writer, or head writer if there is more than one writer assigned to the production. Obviously, the writer is responsible for scripts, type to be set on the page, input on menu design, and the flowchart.
The software design and writing is the responsibility of the Head Programmer, Technical Director, Programmer, or Coder. The programmer must rely on all of the other members of the staff to prepare and organize all of the material going into the project before she can write the codes to make it all work. Additional staff may be called Puzzle Master, Researcher, or Video or Sound Engineer.
Of all electronic media production crews, interactive crews work much more collaboratively than any other. Much, if not nearly all, of the work required to assemble an interactive production may be completed by several of the crew individually or as a committee. Such collaboration requires that those who work on interactive productions must have knowledge of and some skill at accomplishing all of the functions required to complete the project.
As a writer of an interactive production, you will follow the basic pattern of most professional media projects. The first step is to create and write a concept document. It may be called a precise, a log line, a treatment, or a proposal, but the concept must be reduced to a simple comprehensive statement easily understood by everyone involved in the project from the source of funding to the Coder. This document will pass through several stages of revision and modification as the entire group working on that concept will add input and suggestions from their past experiences and responsibilities on the project.
With the Producer, you will work on a budget (primarily the Producer’s responsibility) and production schedule (with the Interactive Designer’s input). By then a draft script should be available for all to begin creating their individual contributions. The differences between a Web page and a game now become major as a game script now takes the form of a fully scripted drama, whereas the Web script is much simpler.
The Web script concentrates on three areas: the purpose or goal, the design layout, and the technical interface. As the writer, your concern will be the content carrying out the goal. You should work with the Design Director on the layout, but that is not your primary responsibility. Other than making certain the technical interface works with your script, that aspect is the responsibility of the Coder.
With the final goal in mind, you will need to list the types of choices you expect the user to need to reach his or her goal. You may list the choices by type of objects, or by the topic and subtopics, depending on your concept. The choices must be unique, offering the user clear choices of all possibilities without any overlapping. When viewing the choices the user should be able to decide between the choices without thinking some offer the same direction, or that they can think of a direction that is not listed as a choice. Your Web program may be a simple one-page Web that the user scans down to read all of the information available on the one page. Or the page may start with a home page, which would explain the basic concept of the program with either menus for further information or links leading to other pages to complete the project. You should create a flowchart, or at least an outline of the menu or link choices so that you have clearly in your mind the relationships between each choice. A Web page flowchart is a map for you and everyone working on the project to maintain consistency of the direction that actions may take. Your description accompanying the flow chart should be written as simply and directly as possible, but at the same time it must not cause confusion with illogical directions. Others on the team rely on the outline or flowchart to indicate to them what they need to create to complete your concept.
Game Scripting
Game scripting takes the writing process a step farther than a simple Web page or series of pages. A game is a complex drama and is analyzed, researched, and written the way a drama is written, except it is nonlinear in structure. Chapters 8 (Games) and 9 (Drama) fully describe the process for writing the dramatic structure for game scripts.
Figure 10.4. Web pages vary in complexity, use of color, and graphics, but each page must have a central purpose to serve the user.
E-commerce is divided into two uses: for business reaching customers, B2C, and for businesses to reach other businesses, B2B.
The most common B2C interactive sites are designed for online shopping. Businesses publish electronic catalogs that allow customers to browse through the offerings until they find the item they wish to purchase. It is added to a shopping cart, purchased, and shipped from a warehouse. Amazon.com, Priceline.com, and Apple.com offer both products and services to purchase, but also in some cases service suggestions for equipment already purchased along with sales announcements. Writing the sites for B2C follow the same process as writing for B2B.
The B2B site must include information of sales offers, marketing, inventory, and delivery systems. As with all writing, you must start with research of the company, all of its operations, policies, and goals for the site. A study of the customer base is the beginning point of the research leading to the design of the system for the company. If the site does not give the customer (either retail or wholesale) what they are looking for on the site, then the site is a failure. The site must be simple to read and follow, yet flexible enough for all possible customer choices. Keep in mind what you write may be viewed on the small screen of a cell phone, PDA, or miniature laptop. If you have designed the site poorly and the customers are frustrated because they can’t find what they want or how to use the site efficiently, they will go elsewhere and your boss loses a client.
You must write instructions logically so the customers can follow the path from throughout the catalog to the item(s) they are looking for, then to the section that shows how to go about making the connection or purchase. This is the most difficult section to write since unless the customer uses this site regularly, he or she will need a clear path to guide him or her through the purchase process. First, item numbers and descriptions need to be as short as possible and they must clearly define the object. The form to fill out should indicate where the item is to be listed, and separate columns or places on the order form should indicate where to list such information as colors, the number of items, or other special needs. If taxes must be paid, a simple method of calculating the tax as well as simple instruction calculating shipping costs should appear next on the form. The final part of the form indicates a total to be paid and how the payment is to be made; charge account, check, or if a business, a transfer of funds account. If possible, the tax, shipping, and total should automatically calculate from within the site.
There are times, but not often, when the users can’t adapt what they are trying to do to the design of the site. As the writer it is critical for you to create a well-designed site to help the customer who needs some method to reach a human to describe and solve their problem. Two choices work well. One is a semi-chat line arrangement where the customer types a question on the form and the question is sent by e-mail to the customer service desk where a service employee hopefully will be able to immediately respond with an e-mail back to the same site. An alternate is a 1-800 phone number where the problem may be solved by a voice-to-voice discussion.
When you write for the Internet, you may or may not know who will be scanning your work or why this person is reading it. Because the Internet is an open network, except for some private sites and networks, anyone can access your messages. For that reason your work may be misunderstood or your carefully designed site will be hacked and destroyed or changed to say the opposite of your intent. At all times when working on the Internet, the realization of your vulnerability should be kept fresh in your mind. This includes the interference of spam, attachment of viruses to your work, or of someone using your work for his or her benefit without either notifying or paying you.
Figure 10.5. Both B2B and B2C Web sites must be clear and easy to follow or their original intent is lost.
It is important to avoid placing any personal or revealing information of yourself on the Internet. The danger of someone stealing your identity becomes more widespread as the number of people accessing the Internet for illegal or illicit reasons increases. The danger of sexual predators has reached alarming levels and must be guarded against by not revealing any personal data about you on any open chat line or blog.
The Internet developed from a research and military need for a quick, universal, and secure communication link among several different locations. As the number of users proliferated, new systems of addressing and managing the signals evolved into the present URL addresses and TCP/IP protocols that control the flow of signals in patches. A variety of different methods of using the Internet to send messages include e-mail, chat lines, instant messaging, newsgroups, and the World Wide Web. Types of Web sites developed to fill different needs of the users from search engines, encyclopedia listings, news gathering, personal diaries, and e-commerce.
The Internet developed to a sophisticated level to enable users to stream audio and video programming. The ability to stream raised questions of illegal distribution of copyrighted material and security issues that have not yet been totally solved. The three incompatible streaming formats complicate the distribution of streamed programs.
Writing for the Internet requires the ability to think and create in a nonlinear manner. Material to be posted must offer the user choices whether it is in a game, an e-commerce purchase, or a communication link between two or more users. Security and a lack of total compatibility between systems prevents the Internet from reaching its maximum level of efficiency.
1. Carefully research any Internet project you create.
2. Be careful of what you reveal about yourself on chat lines, blogs, or other open networks.
3. Remember you are communicating; if you want to be funny, write a comedy, not an e-mail.
4. Use newsgroups, blogs, and Web sites as sources of information, but remember the information is not validated, just someone’s opinion.
5. Using the Internet is a privilege, a relatively free privilege; don’t misuse or abuse the privilege.
6. Writing on the Internet is not that much different than writing for any electronic medium; it’s a difference in distribution and lack of control of that distribution.
1. Find a newsgroup of a topic that interests you. Follow it for a few days and then if you have something worthwhile to add, enter it and see what the response is to your comment.
2. Monitor a chat line. See how long it takes before someone adds a stupid, irrational, even dangerous comment and note the response from others.
3. Monitor a blog of someone you know, or a famous person’s blog. Perform the same analysis as #2 above.
4. Surf the Web until you find a B2C site that you didn’t know existed and see how simple or complex it is written for the consumer. Draw a flowchart.
5. Open a computer game; instead of playing it, analyze how it is organized and draw a flowchart.
6. Monitor an Internet radio station, an audio podcast, and if possible a satellite radio station and an HD radio station. Compare the quality of the signal as well as the professionalism of the programming.
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