What has replaced Hypercard?
September 24, 2013 8:12 PM Subscribe
From my youth, I remember playing with Hypercard on a Mac and being amazed at how much you could do with it. Over the last few years, I've stumbled upon a number of articles that were similarly nostalgic, demonstrating the uses of Hypercard as a web site, presentation slide deck, rolodex, database, and more. I know that Hypercard itself is no more…but is there something equally versatile that exists today?
I understand the value of specialized tools to do all the things that people twisted Hypercard into doing, but I'm surprised that I haven't heard of a similar "do anything" creative tool today. Is there something that has the same broad range functionality? If not, why not?
I understand the value of specialized tools to do all the things that people twisted Hypercard into doing, but I'm surprised that I haven't heard of a similar "do anything" creative tool today. Is there something that has the same broad range functionality? If not, why not?
basic HTML
This one. I learned to program using hypercard back in the dawn of time. I learned html a few years back and it was super familiar to me!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:55 PM on September 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
This one. I learned to program using hypercard back in the dawn of time. I learned html a few years back and it was super familiar to me!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:55 PM on September 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
Twine is pretty close to it, although it's pretty basic.
processing might also fit the bill.
posted by hellojed at 9:19 PM on September 24, 2013
processing might also fit the bill.
posted by hellojed at 9:19 PM on September 24, 2013
Macromedia/Adobe Director (aka Shockwave) was like this, but it got eclipsed by Flash (which wasn't quite the same) about ten years ago.
I'm going to have to go with the "a web browser!" crowd. You can do just about anything with a modern Web browser, and with the right library (like Processing.js or Twine) it's pretty painless even for beginners.
posted by neckro23 at 10:20 PM on September 24, 2013
I'm going to have to go with the "a web browser!" crowd. You can do just about anything with a modern Web browser, and with the right library (like Processing.js or Twine) it's pretty painless even for beginners.
posted by neckro23 at 10:20 PM on September 24, 2013
For better or worse web development seems to be the modern equivalent.
posted by Artw at 10:52 PM on September 24, 2013
posted by Artw at 10:52 PM on September 24, 2013
Livecode is the closest direct-descendant for desktop/laptop computers, with the upshot that you can code apps for the iPhone/iPad with it, too.
I used Livecode to create an app that would use the iPad's GPS to tell you how fast you were going, like a speedometer. The whole thing was ~30 lines of code, and I wrote/deployed/tested it over a weekend.
posted by Wild_Eep at 4:47 AM on September 25, 2013
I used Livecode to create an app that would use the iPad's GPS to tell you how fast you were going, like a speedometer. The whole thing was ~30 lines of code, and I wrote/deployed/tested it over a weekend.
posted by Wild_Eep at 4:47 AM on September 25, 2013
Is there something that has the same broad range functionality? If not, why not?
For a novice user, there's actually a lot that you can do with PowerPoint that is similar to what you could have done with Hypercard.
This hits the nail on the head. Consider a world where there's a large population of people who want to do creative things but only have access to Powerpoint. They will in turn develop Powerpoint-based apps.
Hypercard was indeed ground-breaking in the range of functionality it provided, but I speculate a large part of what made it so versatile were the number of people who were playing with it, and coaxing the application to do things its authors never imagined. The reason there's nothing like Hypercard today is because we have such a rich and diverse set of other, more specific tools available to use.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:34 AM on September 25, 2013
For a novice user, there's actually a lot that you can do with PowerPoint that is similar to what you could have done with Hypercard.
This hits the nail on the head. Consider a world where there's a large population of people who want to do creative things but only have access to Powerpoint. They will in turn develop Powerpoint-based apps.
Hypercard was indeed ground-breaking in the range of functionality it provided, but I speculate a large part of what made it so versatile were the number of people who were playing with it, and coaxing the application to do things its authors never imagined. The reason there's nothing like Hypercard today is because we have such a rich and diverse set of other, more specific tools available to use.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:34 AM on September 25, 2013
The extant descendant of Hypercard is Revolution, being begat from Metacard which was begat from Hypercard. Of all the above, it's actually the closest to Hypercard in idiom and functionality - a card-based programming environment, presentations, rolex, database, works across platforms, web-server, etc.
Note this isn't a recommendation - I used Revolution for a while and while it is faithful to the Hypercard model and you can do a lot of amazing things with it, professional programmers will chaff at the limitations and the ways it forces you to work. Still, it's got its niche and fills it well.
posted by outlier at 6:32 AM on September 25, 2013
Note this isn't a recommendation - I used Revolution for a while and while it is faithful to the Hypercard model and you can do a lot of amazing things with it, professional programmers will chaff at the limitations and the ways it forces you to work. Still, it's got its niche and fills it well.
posted by outlier at 6:32 AM on September 25, 2013
Making an iPad app in XCode using storyboard mode is a little like it, although Obj C is a lot harder to pick up than HyperTalk was and you're not working 'inside the app" like you were with HyperCard. The end results are better though.
I loved HyperCard. It pulled me in by appearing to be a really cool scrapbook and database, tricked me into learning HyperTalk to automate things, and then when I hit the limits of that I started writing XCMDs and eventually full apps in Pascal and then C. Which is how I ended up being a Mac programmer instead of doing the job I trained for.
(Warning, I may have written part of this web browser)
posted by w0mbat at 11:01 AM on September 25, 2013
I loved HyperCard. It pulled me in by appearing to be a really cool scrapbook and database, tricked me into learning HyperTalk to automate things, and then when I hit the limits of that I started writing XCMDs and eventually full apps in Pascal and then C. Which is how I ended up being a Mac programmer instead of doing the job I trained for.
(Warning, I may have written part of this web browser)
posted by w0mbat at 11:01 AM on September 25, 2013
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posted by dylan_k at 8:17 PM on September 24, 2013