Forty years ago, Douglas Engelbart gave the Mother of All Demos. [more inside]
posted by honest knave on Dec 8, 2008 - 35 comments

The web isn't proper hypertext says Ted Nelson, who probably invented the idea.

"I define hypertext as non-sequential writing ... the World Wide Web is not what we were trying to create. The links only go one way. There's no permanent publishing. There is no way you can write a marginal note that other people can see on what's in front of you. There is no way that you can quote freely. "

So is everyone fully comfortable with the idea of a "two way web", or are we still too hung up on picket fence territorialism? And how would it work, anyway?
posted by walrus on Oct 9, 2001 - 18 comments

Ted Nelson rocks! This article from Interactive Week is a month old or so, but it was so enjoyable, I re-read it recently and had to post it. The HyperTextual Man writes and rants about breaking free from the conceptual shackles of interfaces and metaphors. Let the web do its own thing. Let anyone program. Of, course he's talking in terms of his Xanadu project, but nevertheless, some provoking commentary.
posted by grant on Nov 24, 1999 - 1 comment