Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!watson!jgsmith
From: jgsmith@watson.bcm.tmc.edu (James G. Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: "Innovative software like Hypercard" [sic]
Summary: a matter of vision
Message-ID: <1300@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>
Date: 7 Jul 90 22:26:57 GMT
References: <1990Jul3.113921.1299@d.cs.okstate.edu> <77516@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <33519@ut-emx.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@bcm.tmc.edu
Lines: 19



I guess I can understand why some people are disappointed with HyperCard.
HyperCard is not a program with an immediately obvious purpose.  It's a 
development environment whose major advantage is an easily customizable 
interface.  The situation is analogous to handing today's pc to someone
in the 1950's, sans software.  How do you explain to them what it's for?

To me, the potential of HyperCard is mind boggling, simply because I know
what could be done with it, especially in combination with the net.  A person
could be able to look up any book in the Library of Congress, make use of any
on line service, navigate through all sorts of databases, either local, 
national, or international, all without having to know anything about networks,
computers, or software.  All you need is for someone to put the databases 
online, and someone to write the hypercard interfaces.

*
(The people who could/should/will make the best use of HyperCard need not
ever know they're using HyperCard.)