[mechanical_fish]

From Plato:

“You know, Phaedrus, writing shares a strange feature with painting. The offsprings of painting stand there as if they are alive, but if anyone asks them anything, they remain most solemnly silent. The same is true of written words. You’d think they were speaking as if they had some understanding, but if you question anything that has been said because you want to learn more, it continues to signify just that very same thing forever.

What's great about this quote is that it suggests that Plato might have liked the web very much. The web steadfastly refuses to say the same thing forever. (Indeed, it is absolutely terrible at archiving things.) But it supports updates, and revisions, and back-and-forth much better than print does. The two media compliment each other.

[lucifer]

It is a disservice to Plato to assume he lacks the ability to make a distinction between a (written) correspondence and text.

Plato's statement here is likely more subtle than superficially apparent. Specifically, note that he refers comparatively to painting, which (certainly in his day) required a subject (whether mental or natural).

"[W]riting shares a strange feature with painting", in that dimensions are collapsed; the subject is 'framed'; and viewer perspective (e.g. "if anyone asks them anything") is rendered irrelevant and "continues to signify just that very same thing forever".