Introduction

Peter Howard has written many hypertexts, poems and poems intended for children to read. He two personal webs that are connected and present him and his work. You can find there the poems mentioned before as well as his biography, an interview he was made, some links to poetry sites, some projects and a blog he used to write.

My work is based on the hypertext "The Rainbow Factory" by Peter Howard. I have chosen this hypertext because it seemed to have an attractive interface which is simple and colorful, even childish. There is a lot of meaning under it, as it is a parody of many things.

It is easy to use and very graphic, there are no many words in comparison to other hypertexts. There is a factory of rainbows and you are supposed to tour it. In the top windows you'll find what the owners of the fabric want you to see and on the lower windows there is reality.

The topics which are being represented are "romantic poetry, theology, elementary physics textbooks, genetic engineering, titles of academic books, 'green' protesters, 1950s 'B' movies, Microsoft Windows help files, financial scandals. You might find more." as he says and more... 

It is quite ironic that I was first attracted to this text by its interface, because the importance we give to appearance is one of the characteristics of the society Mr. Howard is talking about, the consumist one. I think the appearance is intentional, he softens us with the colorful looks so we think that this text won't be critical (what's more beautiful and harmless than rainbows) and then it show us all the hypocresy of society with all its lies.