> Do you mean something like emacs and other modeless editors? Emacs particularly, had incremental search in the 1970s. Yeah, and I suspect it may have influen

> Do you mean something like emacs and other modeless editors? Emacs particularly, had incremental search in the 1970s. Yeah, and I suspect it may have influenced Raskin in designing the Canon Cat. But good luck with quasimodes and spacial navigation among files in Emacs. The refined interactions provide an extra value in terms of approachability that Emacs is notorious for lacking. The Canon Cat was easy to learn even for advanced use, something that you'll never hear about Emacs.