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HyperCard is a Macintosh application development system that was one of the first visual tools for building hyperlinked applications. "Stacks" of "cards" are built that hold text, graphics, sound and video with links between them. Complex routines can be embedded in the cards using the HyperTalk programming language.[5] Each object in a HyperCard system (stack, card, text field, button, or background) can have a script associated with it. A script is a set of instructions that specify what actions should take place when a user selects an object with the mouse or when some other event occurs.[6] |
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Bill Atkinson of Apple designed the product in 1987 and originally called it WildCard. It revolved around four major elements:
He once called Hypercard a "Software Erector Set" because programming for the Macintosh GUI was much harder than programming for a DOS console. Yet Hypercard made it so simple practically anyone could create their own programs.[2] |
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The product got its initial boost through the internal championing efforts of John Sculley and Chris Espinosa.[1] It was initially included for free on Macintosh computers but it later gained its own commercial success. The champ of Hypercard applications was Myst, a hypermedia adventure. It was bounced back and forth between Apple and Claris until Steve Jobs finally stopped new development on HyperCard in 1997. It is still available through Apple for $99.[2] |
For more information on HyperCard:
[1]
O'Reilly Network: http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/mac/2001/08/17/goodman.html
[2] O'Reilly ONLamp.com: http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2001/08/16/pythonnews.html
[3] Apple Computer, Inc: http://www.apple.com/hypercard/
[4] TidBITS: http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=04075
[5] TechWeb: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=hypercard
[6] Internet.com Webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HyperCard.html
Marissa Cleaver
2-19-02
MCCNM 336