PC-Hypertext: Limitations 2.

- The most fundamental danger inherent in any hypertext
application is that of labyrinthine paths that convolute the
information structure and disorient the user to the context,
content, and intent of the information retrieval objective.

- PC-Hypertext has no graphics display of the network of nodal
relationships in the system.  This means that user orientation
must derive from the ability of the individual idea nodes and the
indicated nodal links to communicate the structure of the system.
However, the user can retrace the current path, mark selected
nodes as a reference trail, and jump to the title screen (and a
display of hierarchical structure) at any point during system
operation, mitigating the lack of a graphic system map.  In fact,
the complexity of a structural map for a large hypertext system
can significantly diminish its effectiveness as a navigational
aid.  For example, a network of only 100 screens has the
potential for 10,000 links.  Although a system would be unlikely
to contain such redundancy, it highlights the difficulty of
coherent graphic mapping.  Instead, the successful hypertext
system should rely on a capacity to communicate and confirm the
structure of the knowledge through the system semantics and the
context of each information node.

<dfile85>   PC-Hypertext: Limitations 1.