textual interlocution

In the context of primarily oral cultures, Walter Ong argues that complex problem solving (or even remembering such information) is difficult or impossible. He asserts the need for an "interlocutor" for the creation of "lengthy, analytic solution[s]", saying that "sustained thought in an oral culture is tied to communication." Clearly, written text serves as this interlocutor; in a similar way, sound reproduction technologies serve as a kind of mechanical interlocutor, allowing sounds to be perceived repeatedly and at a more objective distance. Sound, thus objectified, becomes much more like text as acquired by a previously oral-only culture, enabling sound (and its representation) to have a history.
What of hypertext? Perhaps it can serve as a more elaborate interlocutor, allowing the reader/author even greater opportunity for sustained thought and analysis, while allowing one to trace a text's history within a social network with other reader/authors.