Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sun!prosper
From: vladimir@prosper (Vladimir G. Ivanovic)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: "Innovative software like Hypercard" [sic]
Keywords: Hypercard useless software white elephant
Message-ID: <138529@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 7 Jul 90 09:05:43 GMT
References: <1990Jul3.113921.1299@d.cs.okstate.edu> <77516@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <1990Jul7.050240.21181@csrd.uiuc.edu>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Reply-To: vladimir@prosper (Vladimir G. Ivanovic)
Organization: sun
Lines: 15
In-reply-to: forbes@sp11.csrd.uiuc.edu (Michael Scott Forbes)

Funny.  I think Hypercard, along with NeWS and emacs,  are THE programs one
should try and emulate.  They are usable "right out of the box" by naive
users, but still allow sophisticated programmers the ability to extend the
application domain into areas that the original designers never dreamed of.

Contrast Hypercard with a database program, NeWS with X11 and emacs with vi.
Those in the first group are a language which describes solutions in
the problem domain, and implementations of  an interpreter for that language.
Those in the second group are (generally) fast, efficient but monolithic
solutions which can't be extended or generalized.

Note than I am not saying that the inventors of X11, vi, etc. are bad
programmers, stupid, or whatever, just that their solutions can't be extended.

-- Vladimir