Hypertext by L. Hardman Summarizing

The modernization of technology is one of the reasons why hypertext becomes so popular at this time. People need to access the information in a faster and easier way. Hypertext provides us a lot of reference choices, so that it will be easy to access much information from different sources. Paper document will be replaced by the hypertext because it is considered as the best way to get much information in an access. The problem is even though many people used hypertext for their information necessity it still needs for granted.

Hypertext is kind of nodes that contain of text, which is connected by links. These links took the reader into every text that they want, so the reader will not only focus on one source but all of sources. There are three people who thought about and tried to create the device that can allow their hypertext ideas. Vannevar Bush is the first one who appeared the concept about hypertext in his article ‘As we may think’ in 1945. He creates a device called the ‘Memex’ it tied the text or the information together.

The second is in the early 1960’s Douglas Englebart also had the same idea, so he creates a system called NLS (oN-Line system) that later renamed to be Augment. The device has various hypertexts that allow information to be crossed-reference. At the same period, finally the hypertext term was coined y Ted Nelson. He wants the document is available for everyone and they not only can connect it by using the link but also can use it and make their own self link, so he creates a device system called Xanadu.


Hypertext is not only considered as a text, but also it can be in other media such as video, sound, graphic and animation and it is called hypermedia. There are six features that characterize hypertext systems; Guid, HyperCard, hyperties, intermedia, KMS and NoteCards. These are the commercial systems and have each feature. The first is Frame versus Document, here three of the devices are included as a frame window; HyperCard, hyperties and KMS because those devices has fixed size and number while Guide, Intermedia and NoteCards called Documents that has different size on the screen and the contents of the window which can be scrolled.

The second is Link Source and Destination; in this case, the link has a connection to the destination that the links in HyperCard, hyperties and KMS have as their destination the whole frame, while the links’ destination in Guide and Intermedia are words or phrases. The third is Link markers, it is used as a sign for the readers to know where the links on the screen. Intermedia and KMS have a special symbol of the link, Guide and hyperties have different text style or highlight text to differentiate the links, while NoteCards draw a special box of the links. The last is Miscellaneous Features; some links had different style in informing the reader about the text such as hyperties document let the reader read short information about the text first to give a description about the text and then intermedia linked item into some multiple destinations that had some choice of the different text, and other such as intermedia and NoteCard displayed the information about the text graphically.

Why hypertext becomes so familiar in this period because it is considered can fulfill people’s necessity about the information by using hypertext. The reader can explore and enrich whatever text that they need. When a student looks for the information in the internet, then he entered a specific key word into Goggle search so the result is the Google will give a lot of connected text so that the student will get a lot of sources for his information. For the future hypertext as a structured text that has a lot of connection sources will replace the paper that is thought as a linear document that read only in a source without any other reference. Even though hypertext still need for granted I am absolutely sure it will be granted soon.