I think the book Writing Machines was as good an example of a text that exceeds the text as I have seen, particularly in the form of a book.  The book itself is the first thing that caught my attention.  Being something of a book snob I really appreciate nicely bound books.  From there I began to inquire.

  At first glance, writing machines is textured like a barcode and it has barcodes on it.  I explored a bit farther, the barcodes on the book are not scannable- I had rather hoped they would lead to something interesting that was not mentioned in her discussion of the book design.  These barcodes speaks to Hayles tendency to discuss computer code and the digital.  After a more thorough examination the reader also discovers the words writing and machine appear on the outside edge of the book when turning the pages toward one direction or the other.  Apart from the intriguing form of the book, it is not so different from other more traditional efforts.

I fascinated by the range of different compositions compiled in Electronic Literature.  The capabilities of these electronic works vastly exceed those provided by traditional composition.  And to that end, I am particularly interested in looking at some of the ways that the electronic compositions that Hayles compiles exceed those of a more plane text based publication. 

-NIO by Jim Andrews presents various audio sounds that the user can begin playing at different points.  The user can synch the audio sounds and somehow (as discussed in Grosz) all of the sounds wind up sounding pleasant together.

-On Lionel Kearns presents the viewer with a number of different words that flash on the screen randomly, then you click into it and it reveals a shape that forms a kind of fractal pyramid that you keep clicking on until it seems to vanish.

-Stir Fry Texts (also by Jim Andrews) features text which alternates between several accounts of a similar story when you move the mouse over it.  At the bottom of the text there is a color cube that allows you to view all of one text or another, but whenever you put your mouse on the text different portions change to other texts.  It is interesting to see how they run together. (blue hyacinth)

-In the White Darkness, is an image with a quote about the forgetful nature of memory.  In the background the image blurs and refocuses as polka dots blur and vanish as a shape connects some of them.  This peiece is visually stimulating and vastly more evocative than what a novel could do in the same piece.

I also note that several of these works (NIO included)  include the source code.  This is interesting in that it allows others to approach their works.  Traditional novels, which are often, bound my copyright laws restrict other users from experimenting with their works.  Given the apparent desire of some of these electronic works to appeal so much to a reader in a way that is beyond literacy is quite telling.