In Xanadu did Kublai Khan..a stately pleasure-dome decree..

["Subbarao Kambhampati" <rao@asu.edu>]

I mentioned Xanadu and forgot the guy behind it. Ted Nelson is the man 
who started Xanadu project, which is considered the original hypertext 
project (started in 1960--way before arpanet ;-). His vision of
hypertext was much more sophisticated than the one that we have now,
but his vision stayed at the vision level unfortunately. Project
Xanadu has been called the longest running "vaporware" project in the
history of computer science by less charitable critics.


The following link contains a short history of xanadu project (by
someone other than Ted Nelson)

http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0155.html

For Nelson's own version of his project, look at 

http://www.xanadu.net

---

 The name Xanadu of course comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem
based on Marco Polo's travels--that I have no doubt a bunch of you
were forced to read in highschool

In Xanadu did Kublai Khan
a stately pleasure-dome decree,
where Alph, the sacred river, ran
through caverns measureless to man
down to a sunless sea,
<.....>

Check out http://www.zyra.org.uk/kublai.htm for the full poem



Rao
[Nov 13, 2002]


ps: William Darlymple, my current favorite travelogue write, wrote an
excellent travelogue "Xanadu: A quest" on going to the real Xanadu
(influenced as he was by the poem above...).It brings vividly to life,
Check out

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1864501731/002-9377531-9056809

=============
 "Computer Science is no more about computers 
     than Astronomy is about telescopes"
             Edsgar Dijkstra