I first learned programming using Hypercard. This was back in the mid 90s. It was huge fun. HyperTalk was close to English and was the easiest programming langu

I first learned programming using Hypercard. This was back in the mid 90s. It was huge fun. HyperTalk was close to English and was the easiest programming language I've ever encountered. From HyperTalk I branched out to other script languages - AppleScript, PHP, Perl. I did all kinds of programming for 10 years, before I began learning "real" languages like Java. In general, script languages make it easier for people to get started with programming, but HyperCard was an environment that simplified a great deal. It was even easier to learn that your average script language. It made assumptions for you, to help you get started. Yet it was amazing how much you could do with it. I think HyperCard got flattened by the Web. I do not think it is coming back. Nowadays if people want an easy-to-learn environment that allows them to build a wide range of software, there is the web. If there is a market niche to be filled, it might be a package that tames the Web somewhat. The web is a little too wide open, and the beginner is confronted with a lot of choices before they have the knowledge to make those choices. HyperCard reduced the number of decisions that you had to make up front. Yes, there are packages like Dreamweaver and Flash that help with web and multimedia production, but they do not hold your hand like HyperCard did. Both of them are for professionals, they are scary if you are first learning. A package that makes a lot of assumptions for you, to get you started, might find a niche, even now. And even more so for something like the iPhone, where it is a little easier to make starting assumptions. For me, the story of HyperCard is one of missed opportunities. In 1995 I went to the big tech/photo expo at the Javitts Center in New York City. At the time, interactive multi-media CD ROMs were suppose to be the next big thing (there is a scene in Jurassic Park, which came out in 1994, where the young girl expresses excitement over "an interactive CD ROM". After the web took off, it was hard to remember why CD ROMs were suppose to be a big deal). Macromedia was there, promoting Director. I looked at Director, but I was sure that this niche was going to end up being owned by HyperCard. I felt that anything so easy to learn was going to get a huge following, and then a lot of those people would evolve in serious professionals who would use the tool they were familiar with to keep building stuff (which is what made PHP successful, just a few years later). Macromedia adjusted quickly to the Web. They took Director and stripped it down and came out with a simple product called Flash. Which eventually grew up to take over the space in exactly the way that I thought HyperCard was going to do. Apple had something important in their hands in 1995. But they made bad decisions. Really, it is remarkable how many bad decisions they made in the mid 90s.