Back To The Future: Hypermedia

If a picture speaks a thousand words, I sometimes wonder how many words we attribute to a multimedia clip? Especially one that is now openly accessible to many who don't quite understand the high degree of: "Back To The Future" quotient of most of what we see today.

The Internet Archive initiative is building up an amazing collection of content that includes this "must watch" movie about the somewhat forgotten hypercard development environment.

As I watched the hypercard movie I obtained clear reassurance that my vision of Web 2.0 as critical infrastructure for a future Semantic Web isn't unfounded. The solution building methodology espoused by hypercard is exactly how Semantic Web applications will be built, and this will be done by orchestrating the componentary of Web 2.0.

When watching this clip make the following mental adjustments:

1. Swap hypercard stacks for discrete and/or composite services that have published endpoints exposed by Web 2.0 points of presence
   
   
2. Think of information taking the form of XML based content e.g. RSS, Atom, RDF, FOAF, XFN, and other future XML based data contextualization formats; all accessible via URIs
   
   
3. When the Apple Mac operating system is mentioned (or infered) think of the Internet (you don't need Windows, Mac OS, Linux, UNIX etc. to realize the vision, the network provided by the Internet is the Operating System)
   
   
4. When the Apple computer is mentioned simply think about a plethora of function specific devices (computers, mobile phones, PDAs etc.) that overtly or covertly provide conduits to the new operating environment (the Internet)
   
   
5. As you hear term "whole new body of people that are non programmers contributing there ideas" think about yourself and the increasing ease of participation that's beginning to take shape in this emerging frontier!
   
   
6. As for "Whole Earth Catalog", think Wikipedia or more recent efforts such as Answers.com.

Web 2.0 is a reflection of the web taking its first major step out of the technology stone age (certainly the case relative to the hypercard movie and "pre web" application development in general).