The Call of the Ocean: Hypertext, Universal and Open (1988)

Fascinating read.

Nelson’s ideas of an open universal hypertext system is in many was incredibly prescient of our modern web. But one thing he (and others) got wrong(1) is the concept of backlinks: the ability of a user to see, for any page, a list of other pages (including those by other authors) which link to it.

It’s hard for me to imagine what the web of today would look like with this feature. Ignoring the (probably insurmountable) technical problems, I wonder what would happen if backlinks became available to web users today. How would it change the way we interact with and design websites?

(1): perhaps “foresaw differently” is more charitable since Nelson acknowledges that many systems do not include the feature and is arguing that the system of the future should.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Webmenti...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Pingback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Linkback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Refback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Trackbac...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFjtKPNfNE

The early 2000s blog community invented "trackback" for that purpose, but what Nelson didn't forsee was the inevitable problem of a truly open system: spam and other abuse.

Indeed, what is possible to do in a private or moderated/curated web is quite different from the limits of an open web.

The built in micropayments would have changed the abuse landscape and need for ads/spam in general.

Graph-based codexes like RoamResearch.com show just how powerful such back-references can be.

"[Read] everything from Ted Nelson" – Joe Armstrong

Keynote: The Forgotten Ideas in Computer Science - Code BEAM SF 2018:

https://youtu.be/-I_jE0l7sYQ?t=2002

Ted Nelson is my favorite example of a—smart, no doubt—man who can have all of the right ideas* yet see no real success in his personal career. I hope he sees a little more appreciation before he goes; maybe visual connections will take off, or a ZigZag-clone.

*His ideas on DRM don't count: too far after his time.

Reason for his non-success is clear.

Nelson called for universal and open, but his Xandadu project was closed and ZigZag algorithm patented. He wanted to own and control the hypertex and sell the applications that use it.

He made some moves to open it up when it was too late.

I think the rule of being the "idea guy" applies to Ted Nelson as much as it applies to anyone else.

Ted Nelson: Computer Lib / Dream Machines (1975) [pdf] (worrydream.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19249556

http://worrydream.com/refs/Nelson-ComputerLibDreamMachines19...

For what it's worth, YC is helping Ted Nelson sell his "Computer Lib / Dream Machines" book:

https://twitter.com/nolimits/status/1087770718878687232

This book is a truly unique and is worth owning in hardcopy format.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19058137

Ted versus The Media Lab [video] (youtube.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22169775

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH4Kr3Gsadc

Interview with Ted Nelson (notion.so)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19057331

https://www.notion.so/tools-and-craft/03-ted-nelson

Ted Nelson on What Modern Programmers Can Learn from the Past [video] (ieee.org)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16222520

https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/geek-life/profiles/ted-nelso...

Ted Nelson struggles with uncomprehending radio interviewer (1979) [audio] (youtube.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17376753

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVU62CQTXFI

Ted Nelson’s published papers on computers and interaction, 1965 to 1977 (archive.org)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16245697

https://archive.org/details/SelectedPapers1977

Ask HN: What is the best resource for understanding Ted Nelson's ZigZag?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22518401

http://www.xanadu.com.au/ted/XUsurvey/xuDation.html

http://mimix.io/getting-to-xanadu

Alan Kay's tribute to Ted Nelson at "Intertwingled" Fest (how the script of Tron was the first movie script to ever be edited by a word processing program, on the Alto computer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnrlSqtpOkw

"Silicon Valley Story" — a Very Short Romantic Comedy by Ted Nelson

A playful story about the microcircuitry of love, with Ted Nelson as an absentminded genius, featuring Doug Engelbart as Ted's father and Stewart Brand as the villainous CEO.

Closing song: "Information Flow", sung by Donna Spitzer and the auteur.

With Timothy Leary as the Good Venture Capitalist!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXlyMrv8_dQ

Ted Nelson's Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_DXJ7ZUAJO_d8CnHYTDMQ

Oh, joy - the play "Silicon Valley Story" by Ted Nelson is so funny, weird, and self-consciously awkward in the best theatrical sense. Brilliant. I had never seen that before.

Saved the whole list in study/ted-nelson.txt. Thank you for gathering the links and sharing. (I'm a long-time fan of your work!)