4 ms·

Still. It's fun when the kids discover hypertext wasn't invented in the 90s.

• II2II 3y ago
  It wasn't invented in the 1990s, but a strength of HTML was its relative simplicity. From my recollection, early attempts at hypertext added complexities like bidirectional links, which required more complex software to serve and develop documents. It may have been an amazing tool, but it was also one which a world accustomed to references (which is pretty much a unidirectional hyperlink) was not prepared for. It is also a facility that the modern web has proven largely unnecessary. (It has few uses outside of research.)
  • gwern 3y ago
    > (It has few uses outside of research.) People loved trackbacks and other forms of bidirectional links, like monitoring where a link is shared on social media or checking quote-tweets. They're awesome for commentary and discussion. The problem was never having 'few uses'. The problem was having too many uses - to spammers, as well as big tech companies trying to enclose social media to profit off walled gardens.