FTA: "And if you think that XCode, Python, Processing, or the shit soup of HTML/Javascript/CSS are any kind of substitute for HyperCard, then read this post again." I always hope in the back of my mind that someday there will be a way to create a web interface as easily as you could in Hypercard. I miss it so much.
No such luck. The Web architecture inherently sucks: http://philip.greenspun.com/research/internet-haters
Why Hypercard Had to Die
21–30 of 142 posts
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#22This doesn't seem to be anything special about Hypercard. Hypercard was the BASIC of the Macintosh in that it served the same niche. It certainly was not BASIC, but the idea was the same, a little language and environment that fit into the machine's environment that allowed novices (and then highly practiced novices :-)) to create stuff on the machine for other people to use. It was killed for the same reason BASIC,…
> This doesn't seem to be anything special about Hypercard.
Tell that to the thousands of otherwise non-programming people who developed real, useful applications (some of them best-selling) in Hypercard.
> it's going to be something else over the JS/CSS/HTML stack
Like building a castle on a swamp. Foundations matter: http://www.loper-os.org/?p=55
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#23Filemaker is similar to Hypercard..
http://www.filemaker.com/
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#24Filemaker is similar to Hypercard.. http://www.filemaker.com/
Quite a few things are detectably similar to Hypercard. Even MS Visual Studio.
None of them have the love-at-first-sight appeal. Most seem like an unbearable ordeal once you've used the real thing.
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Broken example - the Kalashnikov is still very much available, while HyperCard is at best a historical curiosity. And it _has_ been upgraded to the AK74, which means it's a quarter century. It also has been transformed into the Type 56, the SG550 or the Galil. Where is that progress with regards to HyperCard?
Mikhail Kalashnikov did not regard the 74 as an improvement. The project was moved forward against his objections. And HyperCard did indeed end up reincarnated as cheap imitations, just like the Chinese Type 56. The analogy holds. Can't comment on the other two -- small arms aren't really my field.
> Mikhail Kalashnikov did not regard the 74 as an
> improvement.
Seems like the True Scotsman fallacy. If someone had upgraded the HyperCard, but the original creator(s) felt it wasn't an improvement, would you argue that it wasn't a "true HyperCard."
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#26This doesn't seem to be anything special about Hypercard. Hypercard was the BASIC of the Macintosh in that it served the same niche. It certainly was not BASIC, but the idea was the same, a little language and environment that fit into the machine's environment that allowed novices (and then highly practiced novices :-)) to create stuff on the machine for other people to use. It was killed for the same reason BASIC,…
Nothing special, other than the fact that you could program a game like Myst in it.
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#27A bit of trivia: MYST, the CD-ROM game, was first shipped for the Mac and written entirely in HyperCard (with a few custom extensions to load the color graphics as quickly as possible).
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#28He's kind of pissed off. I see nothing special with it except for the "natural" language.
The "natural" language is actually the weakest part.
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#29FTA: "And if you think that XCode, Python, Processing, or the shit soup of HTML/Javascript/CSS are any kind of substitute for HyperCard, then read this post again." I always hope in the back of my mind that someday there will be a way to create a web interface as easily as you could in Hypercard. I miss it so much.
Along these lines, have you seen http://springbase.com?
Re: Why Hypercard Had to Die
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mikhail Kalashnikov did not regard the 74 as an improvement. The project was moved forward against his objections. And HyperCard did indeed end up reincarnated as cheap imitations, just like the Chinese Type 56. The analogy holds. Can't comment on the other two -- small arms aren't really my field.
> Mikhail Kalashnikov did not regard the 74 as an > improvement. Does that mean that it really wasn't an improvement? First you argue that popularity defines success, but then you switch gears and appeal to the inventor's opinion. Seems like the True Scotsman fallacy. If someone had upgraded the HyperCard, but the original creator(s) felt it wasn't an improvement, would you argue that it wasn't a "true HyperCard."
This wasn't meant to be a general statement about the opinions of original creators.
I happen to respect that particular inventor (Kalashnikov). And I agree with the reasons he gave. (Going into them here would be going too far off subject. Google is your friend.)