Web publishing: speed changes everything

Information on the Internet travels at the speed of light, but we've not yet felt the full impact of near-instantaneously transmitted information. To understand this impact, the perspective of media is important. From speed emerges interactivity, which, among other things, leads to hypertext. Except for specialists, few seem to have noticed the significance of this fact. Many research journals are gradually migrating online, in effect participating in a new medium. Because information is the lifeblood of professionals, any change will significantly affect readers as well as publishers. By understanding a new medium's effects, we can anticipate and exploit the change; however, we must also recognize that our ability to control such change is not straightforward.