History of Hypertext From Early Developments to the Web

The concept of hypertext has been around for a while, dating back to the 1940s with the work of Vannevar Bush, who envisioned a system called the "Memex" that would allow users to link and cross-reference different pieces of information.

Bush's idea of a Memex was a machine that could store and retrieve information using a system of microfilm and indexing, but it wasn't until the 1960s that the first hypertext system was developed, called the "Xanadu" system by Ted Nelson.

The Xanadu system was designed to be a non-linear, interactive system that allowed users to create and link their own documents, but it never gained much traction.

The first widely used hypertext system was actually the Apple HyperCard, which was released in 1987 and allowed users to create their own interactive documents using a system of cards and links.

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The concept of hypertext has its roots in the 1940s with Vannevar Bush's vision for the Memex, an electromechanical desk that could display and link documents. This idea directly influenced Ted Nelson and Douglas Engelbart, who are often credited with the invention of hypertext.

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In 1941, Jorge Luis Borges published "The Garden of Forking Paths", a short story considered the earliest precursor to hypertext. Borges' work explored the idea of non-linear storytelling, which would later become a hallmark of hypertext.

Ted Nelson coined the term "hypertext" in 1963 as part of his Project Xanadu, an ambitious project that aimed to create a system of bi-directional links between documents. This concept was revolutionary at the time, as it allowed readers to create "zippered lists" of linked documents.

In the early 1960s, Douglas Engelbart started working on the Augment project, which developed computer tools to augment human capabilities and productivity. The project included NLS, a system with several hypertext features, and a shared "journal" facility that allowed researchers to include cross-references to other work.

Here's a brief timeline of early hypertext developments:

The Talmud is an ancient prototype of hypertext representation, using annotations and nested commentary to create a network of interconnected ideas.

This approach to knowledge is distinct from the linear book, implying a way of knowing that is more fluid and dynamic.

The Talmud's use of annotations and commentaries is similar to the concept of frames in HTML, where different sections of text can be read as accompaniments to each other.

The Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata also exhibit hypertextual qualities, with stories branching off to other stories.

These ancient texts demonstrate that the concept of hypertext is not a new idea, but rather a way of organizing and presenting knowledge that has been around for centuries.

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The Memex, a device proposed by Vannevar Bush in 1945, was a precursor to modern hypertext systems. It was an electromechanical desk linked to an extensive archive of microfilms, capable of displaying books, writings, or any document from a library.

The Memex would create "trails" of linked and branching sets of pages, combining pages from the published microfilm library with personal annotations or additions captured on a microfilm recorder. This was a vision based on extensions of 1945 technology.

Bush's article, "As We May Think", directly influenced and inspired the two American men generally credited with the invention of hypertext, Ted Nelson and Douglas Engelbart.

In the 1960s, the world's first working hypertext system, the Hypertext Editing System, was built at Brown University in 1967. It ran in a 128K memory partition on a small IBM/360 mainframe and was funded by an IBM research contract.

The Hypertext Editing System was later sold to the Houston Manned Spacecraft Center, where it was used to produce documentation for the Apollo missions. This was a significant milestone in the use of hypertext technology.

The second hypertext system, FRESS, was developed at Brown University in 1968 as a follow-up to the Hypertext Editing System. FRESS was implemented on an IBM mainframe and was remarkably stable, allowing it to run a demonstration at the 1989 ACM Hypertext conference.

Brown University has been a major player in the hypertext field ever since, with its most prominent effort being the development of the Intermedia system.

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The early 1980s saw the first real-world use of hypertext systems. The Symbolics Document Examiner, released in 1985, was the first hypertext system to see widespread use outside of academic institutions.

It was designed as a real product for users of the Symbolics workstations, providing a hypertext interface to the online documentation. The system was a success, with half of the 24 users surveyed preferring to use the hypertext version over the printed manual.

The Document Examiner's design was notable for its simplicity, using a book metaphor for the interface to avoid scaring off users unfamiliar with hypertext. The system's information was modularized according to user needs, with a node for every piece of information a user might want.

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Modern Literature has been influenced by the concept of hypertext, as seen in Jorge Luis Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths", which was written in 1941. This novel can be read in multiple ways, much like a hypertext novel.

Borges described the structure of his novel as a labyrinth, where each link leads to new connections, creating an ever-expanding maze. This idea has been influential in modern literature.

Janet Murray referenced Borges' work as a precursor to the hypertext novel and aesthetic. The idea of a novel that can be read in multiple ways has been explored in various forms of modern literature.

In James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake", every word becomes the main issue that introduces every other word, creating a topological maze where everything is both inside and outside. This complex structure has been a subject of study in literary analysis.

The Symbolics Document Examiner, released in 1985, was a hypertext system designed for real-world use, making it the first of its kind. It was a hypertext interface to the online documentation for the Symbolics workstation.

This system was used by engineers who were motivated to use high-technology solutions, and they preferred it over the printed manual. In fact, 8 out of 24 users surveyed had not even taken the shrinkwrap off the printed manual.

The Document Examiner was made possible by the powerful Symbolics workstation, which had a storage capacity of ten megabytes. This allowed it to store a 10,000-node hypertext system with 23,000 links.

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The system's design goal was to be as simple as possible, using a book metaphor for the interface. This included dividing the information into "chapters" and "sections" with a table of contents.

The information in the 8,000-page manual was modularized according to an analysis of the users' probable information needs. This meant that there was a node for any piece of information that a user might want.

The system's usability was assessed through a survey of 24 users, and the results were promising.

1987 was a pivotal year for the development of hypertext, marked by the release of Apple's HyperCard for the Macintosh. This application revolutionized the way people interacted with digital content by introducing hypermedia, a concept where multiple media types are linked together.

HyperCard utilized a database and a series of linked cards, each holding various interactive elements. This allowed users to create and navigate through complex digital content in a user-directed order.

One of the most successful computer games of all time, Myst, was initially written in HyperCard. This game allowed users to explore a world in a non-linear fashion, showcasing the potential of hypertext in game design.

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In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee created a hypertext project called the WorldWideWeb, which aimed to link and access information in a web of nodes that users could browse at will.

Tim Berners-Lee was a scientist at CERN who wanted to share information easily among physicists working at different locations. He invented the World Wide Web to meet this demand.

The WorldWideWeb project proposed a simple scheme incorporating servers already available at CERN, which would provide access to the hypertext world through a program called a browser.

In 1992, the first Internet web browser, Lynx, was born. It allowed users to access hypertext links within documents that could reach into documents anywhere on the Internet.

Lynx's ability to provide hypertext links marked the beginning of the creation of the Web on the Internet.

Early in 1993, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) released the first version of their Mosaic web browser, which quickly became the replacement for Lynx due to its ability to display and link graphics as well as text.

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Mosaic allowed images as well as text to anchor hypertext links, making it a significant improvement over earlier browsers.

The release of Mosaic for both PC and Macintosh environments in 1993 led to a rapid explosion of traffic on the World Wide Web, with the number of web servers increasing from 500 in 1993 to over 10,000 in 1994.

This growth overshadowed all earlier hypertext systems, despite the original World Wide Web lacking features like easy editing, typed links, backlinks, transclusion, and source tracking.