HyperCard: The hypertext for the rest of us. An evolutionary analysis of its life cycle and influence

This article proposes an evolutionary analysis of HyperCard, the pioneering hypertext creation software released in 1987 and bundled with Macintosh computers for almost a decade. HyperCard combined a flat-file database with a graphical, user-modifiable interface and a built-in programming language (HyperTalk), enabling diverse projects, including rapid prototype development and interactive applications like the popular video game Myst. A key aspect of HyperCard was its role in fostering a global community of users who freely created and shared hypertexts. Although not a pre-web network, HyperCard also popularized the concept of “multimedia”, “hypertext”, and “hypertextual navigation”, influencing the emergence and the future evolution of the World Wide Web. The article examines HyperCard through the lens of media evolution, focusing on its emergence, domination, survival/adaptation, and extinction, and the intermedia relationships between the different hypertext and multimedia production software. The analysis shows that HyperCard was both shaped by earlier hypertext systems and a significant reference for later software, scripting environments, interactive multimedia, and emerging forms of Web culture.