Hypertext

Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with an embedded link to another text that the reader can immediately access, by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Hypertext is a core  concept defining the structure of the connected pages of the internet. 

In 1941, Jorge Luis Borges created a hypertext style novel - The Garden of Forking Paths.

In 1945, Vannevar Bush wrote an article in The Atlantic Monthly called “As We May Think”, about a futuristic proto-hypertext device he called a Memex.

In 1963, Ted Nelson coined the terms ‘hypertext’ and ‘hypermedia’ in a model he developed for creating and using linked content (. In December of that year, Engelbart demonstrated a hypertext interface to the public for the first time, in what has come to be known as “The Mother of All Demos”.

Hypertext fiction is a part of electronic literature, characterized by the use of hypertext links to other texts, images,animations or environments. Hypertext fiction gave rise to digital narrative and the desire for deeper levels of interaction tied to its elements of play, interactivity and textual spaces.

Relevant links:

http://www.inanimatealice.com/

http://www.webyarns.com/

http://www.flightpaths.net/

http://www.secrettechnology.com/wittenoom/artwork/p1.html

http://www.secrettechnology.com/graphoem/one/graphoem1.html

http://www.secrettechnology.com/flanet/

http://www.well.com/user/jmalloy/neapaper.html

http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=389