We can extend Bakhtin’s argument about the novel being a genre that incorporates in dialogical form other written genres to theorize multimedia. Multimedia is to other media as the novel to other written genres. It uses interactivity to combine time-dependent and time-independent media into coherent works. The interface design and programming bring these media into dialogue with each other.
McCullough in Abstracting Craft repeatedly talks around amateurism and craft without dealing with it. He comments that philosophers are happier with “praxis” than craft as an idea because it isn’t associated with amateur work. What so wrong with amateurism? Why not be an amateur or lover of knowledge. The amateur has the freedom to play, is humble before a master, is a perpetual learner and holds things ready to be.
Could it be that there is too much to learn in multimedia design so we are all by definition amateurs? Amateurism could be the only way to deal with too much choice, too much information, and too many media.
Are blogs the revenge of the amateur?