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Hypertext Systems In 1967 Brown University's computer science professor Andre van Dam developed the first operational hypertext system. With funding from IBM, Van Dam, a graphics specialist, began a collaboration with students and Ted Nelson to help create Nelson's dream of a hypertext system. The Hypertext Editing System (HES) was a simple, unsophisticated program that allowed nonsequential access to the various sections of a document. Students and professors from Brown found uses for HES, but quickly discovered its many weak elements. Eventually, IBM sold the program to NASA, and it was used during the Apollo space program. During his career Van Dam researched and developed more successful hypertext systems, such as FRESS (File Retrieval and Editing Systems) and the Electronic Document system, which became widely used in the 1970s for teaching and research. The systems' highlights included innovative aids to navigate documents such as:
Van Dam's work on hypertext systems introduced revolutionary elements that became standardized methods of interactive programming. |