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As someone who played with both HyperCard and too many a BBS back in the day I can tell you that the web was inevitable (see FidoNet). It might have evolved in
by michaelpinto 15y ago
As someone who played with both HyperCard and too many a BBS back in the day I can tell you that the web was inevitable (see FidoNet). It might have evolved in half a dozen ways and looked slightly different, but it would have happened. Also having somewhat survived the dot.com era of the 90s I'd have to say what really gave the web its power was broadband getting to the masses, and several industries gave that push.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet
- dragonsky 15y agoFidonet was my first thought as well. I remember with some nostalgia sending emails to England from Australia back in the Fidonet days. It took a day or so to be delivered, but it did get there. The only restriction on Fidonet was the cost of international phone calls. I think, like the steam engine, inter-networking was a technology who's time had come.
- bane 15y agoI was going to say that Gopher would have probably morphed and evolved into something not too dissimilar to the web we have today -- it had the hyperlink idea down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) I remember a few graphical BBS systems that also had some of the conceptual underpinnings of the web today in terms of graphical interfaces. But I agree, We would have probably ended up with something pretty much like we have today.
- chalst 15y agoWe wouldn't have had the IETF, and I think that would have made it a messier and less sophisticated affair.