ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the quality and quantity of the information work produced through wordprocessing. Wherever information must be stored, retrieved, selected and modified, wordprocessing has become the most common process for information workers. The traditional view is that written text is permanent, that meaning and authority are lodged in writing, making it the suitable vehicle for rational, critical thinking. Electronic texts are not only infinitely variable, but are also artificially bounded. In bulletin boards, the texts resemble letters, often arguing for or against a particular issue. They resemble oral language more than written text, or the broadsides and pamphlets of earlier centuries. Within business communities, writer and audience interact through text. As the audience, intended or otherwise, responds, the writer changes the text, or responds with another text, clarifying, exemplifying, explaining. Even in the most totalitarian state, reader and writer can create their own worlds through the text.
