# Hypertext At its core, any text that contains links to other text, usually rendered on computers. The concept behind [[HTML]] and (at least some part of) the [[World Wide Web]]. A lot of hypertext systems stem out of [[Digital Utopianism]]. The term was coined by [[Ted Nelson]] (as well as [[Hypermedia]]) in 1963. > [!quote] "(...)'Hypertext' is a recent coinage. 'Hyper-' is used in the mathematical sense of extension and generality (as in 'hyperspace,' 'hypercube') rather than the medical sense of 'excessive' ('hyperactivity'). There is no implication about size— a hypertext could contain only 500 words or so. 'Hyper-' refers to structure and not size." [Theodor H. Nelson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Nelson "Ted Nelson"), _[Brief Words on the Hypertext](https://archive.org/details/SelectedPapers1977)_, 23 January 1967 ## Quotes [[Jaron Lanier]] about how [[Ted Nelson]]'s links were meant to be two-way, not one-way: ![[QUOTE - Jaron Lanier - Nelson's links were two-way]] ## People - [[Jorge Luis Borges]] - [[Ted Nelson]] - [[Vannevar Bush]] - [[Douglas Engelbart]] - [[Tim Berners-Lee]] ## Software - [[Memex]] by [[Vannevar Bush]] - [[Project Xanadu]] by [[Ted Nelson]] - [[HTML]] - [[Hypercard]] - [[Obsidian]] - [[Wikis]] ## Books - [Memory Machines: The Evolution of Hypertext by Belinda Barnet](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17867988-memory-machines) ## Examples A great example of [[Online Writing]], the very [[Hypertext]] online catalog of the Cooper Hewitt museum: - [Poster, Chuck Berry / Steve Miller Band | Objects | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum](https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18498027/)