5.1 The Text Tradition
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The suggestive, engaging power of text does not belong to poets alone. Politicians
use it: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your coun-
try” (John F. Kennedy). And so do advertisers: “99 and
44/100
pure” (Ivory soap); and song
writers: “I tried to forget you but you tied bells to your name. They jingled every time I
thought of you, without shame” (Jewel). Multimedia developers also craft their words to
capture the attention and to engage the imaginations of their readers.
Like all writers, multimedia developers value text for its universality, its clarity and effi-
ciency, and its powers of abstraction, engagement, and suggestion. But unlike traditional
writers, the multimedia developer ...