From my understanding of what I had read in the assigned reading material, I fell that the authors are referring to that there is a new environment being developed as it pertains to texts and we now need to treat all texts as meaningful.  I think what they were trying to say is that every part of a text has a meaning whether it is a single letter, word or even a symbol. What this means is that text is no longer words in a book and texts have changed from their origin meaning from telling a story to more detailed instructions that can be used to carry out task or learn from or even a symbol like a road sign. When we see the text or image of a stop sign we know that we have to stop at the intersection before proceeding on our way.

 

The author used an example in the reading about using symbols to change the direction of a ship’s path. It is not just turning the steering wheel to get the ship to let’s say turn to the left in order to enter the harbor. It’s a matter of instrument symbols and human interaction in order to get the ship to change its course in an effort to get to its new intended location. Since, we as human know what certain symbols mean we know what instructions need to be carried out in order to get the ship to veer left. Part of the instructions might be yellow light flashing to decrease speed as we turn the steering wheel in order prevent the ship from tipping.

 

In using the example above I feel the author is trying to prove the point that text can be changed and when it is changed, it can change the entire meaning of the material that is being presented and how it is being received by the person using it to learn.