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Did You Think Apple’s HyperCard Was Dead? Almost.

SuperCardIf you’re new to Macs you’re not likely to remember HyperCard and stacks. That’s the domain of longtime Mac users.

Today’s newer Mac users can indulge their fantasy for the past by using SuperCard, what HyperCard would have been were it not for dying.

A little history is probably in order. 21 years or so ago Apple’s Bill Atkinson created a hypermedia system, years before the World Wide Web, which is a modern equivalent of HyperCard.

That so-called hypermedia system consisted of a graphical interface, in lovely black and white on early Macs, on which users created pages, or cards, which could link to one another.

A bunch of cards together became stacks of information, all of which could be linked to. Click a button, and a different card with different information could appear.

Literally, HyperCard was a software erector set and came with buttons, fields, menus, and the ability, in a minimal way, to program functionality into those objects.

Apple never really knew what to do with HyperCard. People today, when they see HyperCard, or the current commercial equivalent, SuperCard, say it looks like the web. It does, but that was then, this is now.

Apple, for whatever reason, let HyperCard die, and almost missed the internet boat. Today, all that’s left of the HyperCard phenomenon are old Mac users who still have their stacks on floppy disks.

For everyone else, there’s SuperCard, which was created in 1989, sold to Aldus years later (Aldus was bought by Adobe).

Honestly, I thought SuperCard was dead, too, but it has bounced around, has a loyal following, and continues to be developed.

What does SuperCard do? It does what HyperCard did 20 years ago, but runs on Mac OS X and has better tools to create interactive presentations, learning aids, custom applications, and projects which require a rich variety of multimedia elements.

Today, SuperCard is used primarily in the creation of presentations, or applications which require user interaction. SuperCard runs on SuperTalk, a scripting program language derived from Apple’s original HyperTalk. Today’s version is all OS X.

The interface is in color and allows for runtime editing, full dialog boxes, and tool palettes. For those who crave a multimedia outlet that is not quite as bad as HTML and CSS, SuperCard also supports text-to-speech, speech recognition, graphics, sound, and, of course, embedded QuickTime movies.

HyperCard brought modern transitions to elements and cards, and SuperCard extends that capability by using the QuickTime transition architecture. In other words, creating presentation pages with transitions is a point and click affair.

SuperCard gives presentation developers tools to create standalone versions of SuperCard applications. Double click and the application or presentation runs on any Mac, even one without SuperCard installed.

Today’s version of SuperCard comes with all kinds of under the hood utilities to extend capability beyond anything envisioned by HyperCard users. Even Apple’s Xcode can be used to build externals from SuperCard.

HyperCard came with new Macs back in the day, though I remember a standalone upgrade version that could be purchased.

Today’s SuperCard is not cheap at $179. If you’re a former (or current; some HyperCard users, like Newton owners, have never given up the ghost) HyperCard owner and can prove ownership, there’s a discount to $129.

What would you do with HyperCard SuperCard? Convert your old HyperCard stacks to SuperCard and bring your 20 year old applications and presentations into the 21st century.

Or, learn the basics of programming with the rich toolset of scripting languages built-in to SuperCard. Or, simply create modern, updated, media rich presentations and rapid applications.

I have fond memories of HyperCard. 15 years ago my kids, now grown and married and MacBook owners, learned to program multimedia games using HyperCard animation.

Do you remember HyperCard? Do you still have HyperCard ‘stacks’ sitting around? Share the nostalgia in the Comments section below.

Off Topic Note: Here’s a few questions for Mac users: (1) What’s the world’s fastest browser? (2) What’s the best notebook for Mac users? (3) What’s a good back up strategy for your Mac?

   • Article by Ron McElfresh • Published on Friday, May 16, 2008
   • Category: News & Commentary • 4 Reader comment(s) • Email This • Digg This • Shop Now
  Page 1 of 1 Page(s) for this article.

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Readers Talk Back:
Gene Keyes says:

For the past six years, and 24/7 (well, 15/7), I’ve been using a stack called URLfriend 1.0 which I designed. It can open any URL in any browser and enable copious notes about any website. So far I have over 3,350 cards in a stack of less than 2 Mb.

Apple’s hara-kiri of HyperCard was a horrible blunder.

--Gene Keyes

   — Posted on Wed Aug 20 at 10:59 pm by Gene Keyes

HyperFrank says:

It was a dark and stormy night. My wife went to bed alone again as I pushed and pulled my mouse through hours of exhilarating exploration. My heart sometimes raced, sometimes fell as thrill or disappointment rocked my new world. She would never be able to understand… or would she? I spent several hours on the project to win her over, sat her down early one Sunday morning, asking her to click that one HyperCard button. My Mac Plus eagerly jumped to the task, effortlessly executing examples of spreadsheet tumbles, word processor vaults, evil alien disintegration. When the scripts had run their course, she sat for a moment, dumbfounded. “Nice,” she finally said.

HyperCard and I had scored.

   — Posted on Sun May 25 at 10:58 am by HyperFrank

TS says:

Hypercard is the reason I bought a Mac in the first place. It is/was amazing. We’re still using stacks/programs at the company that I made in the 90’s. Running them on antique macs! I was just re-customizing one of them this past week.

   — Posted on Sat May 17 at 8:10 pm by TS

Tim says:

Anyone interested in Hypercard or Supercard should also look at Revolution. It uses a very similar scripting language and card metaphor and runs on Macs, Windows and several Unix systems. See http://www.Runrev.com.

   — Posted on Fri May 16 at 10:53 am by Tim

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