December 14, 2014

Project Xanadu

Project Xanadu isn't just a really interesting UI for browsing hypertext,1 it's also the world's most delayed software.

Update

A reader adds some context:

We’re never going to see widespread adoption of the original total Xanadu design but I’d encourage everyone interested in the web, software, hypertext, whatever, to read Literary Machines and Computer Lib while also appreciating its 1970s context and the iconoclastic personality of Ted Nelson. Also of course, clear contrast with the Worse Is Better rule.

Versions of Xanadu prototypes (based on original development from the 70s and 80s) were in fact released at some point:

http://udanax.xanadu.com/

Another page that explains the OpenXanadu web demos you linked to:

http://xanadu.com/nxu/

The Guardian article timing is weird because that OpenXanadu web demo was released and announced several years ago I think.

  1. Space-up or space-down moves between segments, space-left and space-right moves between documents, space-shift switches views. ↩︎

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designed for use cover

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