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I would like to start an informal hypertext club.
This would be for anyone who is interested in hypertext: its history, development, latest research and thinking around it, etc. This wouldn’t be just a space for computer scientists or very technical people; since its beginning, the hypertext community has extended across many disciplines, whether the cognitive-science roots of Vannevar Bush’s Memex concept, or hypertext’s rich storytelling potential (as explored by authors/artists/literary theorists), or videogame design and more (I myself have drawn an interest in it from a creative writing perspective).
It's a niche interest, so I wonder if anyone here shares it?
Dec 12 · 6 days ago
@nightliife I think you might have to explain what you mean by hypertext, as most will just be thinking HTML, which is what Geminauts run here to escape. 😂
☯️ dragfyre · Dec 12 at 08:13:
Dunno if there'd be enough traction to require a subspace, but occasional threads about hypertext sounds good. Sounds like a good concept for a Gemini capsule, actually.
And @HanzBrix - technically gemtext is hypertext too, as hypertext is literally just text with links, or, as Wikipedia puts it, "text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access."
@dragfyre I know, that is why I am saying one might want a more refined definition, as the hypertext definition itself, can apply to almost all text written on a computer. 😂
👻 nightliife [OP] · Dec 13 at 00:45:
The wikipedia definition basically sums it up, although Ted Nelson's is useful: "a body of written or pictorial material interconnected in a complex way that it could not be conveniently represented on paper."
Certainly should not be limited to HTML as a topic of discussion—and likewise I think a rather open definition like Nelson's is useful given its wide application (especially in an environment like this one, which serves as an alternative to the reigning hypertext experiences found on the internet as HanzBrix mentions).
@HanzBrix: I don't think it's hypertext per se that is the problem with the web... I'd point my finger at capitalism and the lack of a free market, an economic abomination that creates an abusive environment for users, who are basically cattle.