Hypertext, as a mode of writing, has no essence any more than does print or pictures. It can be used in many ways; it has strengths and weaknesses, but these are not the same as a singular essence. So it seems to me dangerous to speak in the questions of the power or possibilities of hypertext in general as if it had the power to do this or that. This or that may be done in hypertext, better or worse than in other modes of writing, but there is no magic bullet that will take us permanently beyond linearity or other constraints.