Electronic literature and/or
digital literature is a genre of literature encompassing works created exclusively on and for digital devices, such as
computers,
tablets, and
mobile phones. This means that these writings cannot be easily printed, or cannot be printed at all, because elements crucial to the text are unable to be carried over onto a printed version. The digital literature scene continues to innovate print’s conventions. For example, the novella
Pry is exclusive to devices like
iPads and
iPhones for the simple fact that it requires a
touchscreen. Digital literature tends to require a user to traverse through the literature through the digital setting, making the use of the medium part of the literary exchange. Espen J. Aarseth wrote in his book
Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature]that "it is possible to explore, get lost, and discover secret paths in these texts, not metaphorically, but through the topological structures of the textual machinery".