---
date: '2024-02-09'
description: ted nelson's concept of non-sequential text with free user movement, envisioning xanadu as global hypertext system with transclusion and fair compensation.
id: Hypertext
modified: 2026-06-05 15:08:29 GMT-04:00
tags:
  - seed
title: Hypertext
created: '2024-02-09'
published: '2024-02-09'
pageLayout: default
slug: thoughts/Hypertext
permalink: https://aarnphm.xyz/thoughts/Hypertext.md
generator:
  quartz: v4.6.0
  hostedProvider: Cloudflare
  baseUrl: aarnphm.xyz
full: https://aarnphm.xyz/llms-full.txt
---
Coined by Ted Nelson around 1965, non-sequential text with free user movement, called **hypertext** in “Literary Machine”

> It is _non-sequential_ writing — text that branches and enable choices to readers, without the need to follow a predetermined path.

Hypertext can also be interpreted as a [[thoughts/Database|database]] format in which information related to that on a display can be accessed directly from the display

![[thoughts/images/hypertext.webp]]

He also brought up the concept of transclusion, which include parts of documents within other documents by reference.

He envisioned an utopia, a global hypertext system (Xanadu) where all data was stored once, no deletions, and every information can be accessed through a links [^1],
and everyone would be paid fairly for their work.

[^1]: [Interview with Ted Nelson](https://ics.uci.edu/~ejw/csr/nelson_pg.html)

## fiction

See also: [url](http://fictionaut.com/blog/2010/02/12/checking-in-with-hypertext-fiction/)

non-linear space that use hypertext to explore narrative possibilities