Mon Jan 19 21:32:51 2026
(*4297a328*):: Not sure if i’m retarded but this is a superior tech stack philosophy imo
(*53e37792*):: I’ve been obsessed with Ted Nelson and Xanadu since 2017
(*53e37792*)::
(*53e37792*)::
*** readine up on xanatu
*** readine up on xanatu
(*4cfb807c*):: Looks like a Ceph Cluster lol
(*53e37792*)::
(*4cfb807c*):: Lol or a blockchain or bittorrent
*** readine up on xanatu
(*53e37792*):: https://www.wired.com/1995/06/xanadu/
*** The Curse of Xanadu
*** It was the most radical computer dream of the hacker era. Ted Nelson’s Xanadu project was supposed to be the universal, democratic hypertext library that would help human life evolve into an entirely new form.
*** WIRED
(*53e37792*):: Parallel hypertext with micropayments. Xanadu makes me sad
*** readine up on xanatu
(*53e37792*):: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/ +public!
*** As We May Think
*** “Consider a future device … in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.”
*** The Atlantic
(*53e37792*):: July 1945
(*53e37792*):: Must read. https://xanadu.net/NOWMORETHANEVER/XuSum99.html
(*53e37792*):: +public!
Dream-machines-Ted-Nelson-.pdf
(*53e37792*):: resisting the urge to go back down the Xanadu rabbit hole which will take up months of my life**
(*53e37792*):: I use a local Zettelkasten system is what I use to take notes and us obsidian.md to process zettels.
(*4cfb807c*):: What is it about xanadu that you find compelling?
(*53e37792*):: Obsidian can be used as a memex but it takes a lot of work
(*53e37792*):: Well it would have changed how we process hypertext. Instead of one way linking you could do more two way hyperlinks to specific paragraphs and backtrack the source. So bidirectional permanent links. if A links to B, B knows about A forever. Links would be visible side-by-side, letting you see context, quotes, criticism, origins — everything at once.
(*53e37792*):: Also transclusion
(*53e37792*):: Built in versioning
(*53e37792*):: And micropayments
(*53e37792*):: If you listen Ted Nelson speak it becomes apparent that there were many ways the www could have been launched
(*4cfb807c*):: why wasnt it built that way instead? why was xanadu never built as conceived?
(*53e37792*):: I still don’t know. I worked on www.treechat.ai for a while and it is trying to build a Xanadu type structure