I just read a groovy article by Ted Nelson in my NEW MEDIA READER.
Official Article Title: "A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate"
1965
Some notes on the article:
- Ted Nelson = pretty much created the term "hypertext" and its accompanying concept; however, his original vision differs from what we call hypertext today
- When Nelson wrote this article a computer with mass memory and "video-type" display cost $37,000--what the what?!
- Vannevar Bush imagined a computer back in 1945--he called it a 'memex' when discussing this he emphasized the machine's ability to organize information in "associative trails"
- Nelson thought up ELF = Evolutionary List File that has three elements: entries, lists, and links
- From the book I quote:
entry = "a discrete unit of information designated by the user"
list = "an ordered set of entries designated by the user"
link = "a connector, designated by the user, between two particular entries which are in different lists"
- ELF is different from other list languages is that it was designed to be altered in whatever section by a human operator
-Possible applications of ELF: allows for filing of historical or associative trails, can withhold multiple levels of indexing and summary within a body of information, simplifies the process of commenting and editing a file, allows for "self documentation" of a file
- PRIDE = Personalized Retrieval, Indexing, and Documentation Evolutionary is a system to promote and aid the use of ELF
- Main point behind Nelson's philosophy is that of adaptability so that information can be tailored to each specific user
- Nelson introduces Hypertext as "a body of written or pictorial material interconnected in such a complex way that it could not conveniently be presented or represented on paper"
-All in all Nelson was trying to change the way in which we process and organize information, similar to Borges' Garden of Forking Paths Nelson moved outside of the standard linear arena of information processing to create a whole new method of understanding.
Well as you can guess, after reading that doozie of an article, I simply HAD to know more about Theodor Nelson!
So I went to his wikipedia page to learn more. Here's what I found:
- Theo is credited with using these words first: hypertext, hypermedia, transclusion, virtuality, intertwingularity, and teledildonics
-Founded Project Xanadu in 1960 in order to create "a computer network with a simple user interface." He spent most of his adult life working on and advocating the project.
-Although his Father was a director and his Mother an actress, Nelson thought working with computers would be more fun. He was raised by his Grandparents in Greenwich Village.
-He's currently working on a new information structure entitled, "zig-zag"
According to Nelson's personal website he is also a poet and a rogue of sorts. Other things I learned from venturing over to his homepage:
-If you attend the University of Southampton you might just have Mr. Nelson as a visiting professor
-For someone who predicted the evolution of the computer, the man has a rather bare website
- He enjoys using the word "hither" for his links, also you can buy his book POSSIPLEX on Amazon
-The man has written eight books and has instructed some 750 students--Wowee-wowa!
Heck just as a whim I also checked out the Wikipedia page for Nelson's book Literary Machines, take a look at it hither. Or if clicking seems too strenuous, I'll tell you about it...now:
- It was first published in 1980 and then republished nine times by 1993
- The book focuses on Nelson's notion of "hypertext" as well as his project Xanadu
- Book is nonlinear so that the texts can be read out of order much like our handy NEW MEDIA READER
Look if you guys are as hooked by this post as I was by Theodor (I call him 'Teddy' for short) Nelson then I suggest you buy one of his books, or read one of his poems, or go find out more about him because this is the end of my post on the man. So... Ta ta!
Is it just me or was Ted Nelson's website very unimpressive for someone who kind of sort of imagined the world wide web?
ReplyDeleteI mean I know he's kind of sour grapes about the whole Internet thing, and I'm sure his original vision for "websites" was much grander... but is that any reason to create a boring page?