Ted Nelson, the man widely credited with dreaming up the Hypertext concept, says that his long-promised Xanadu, a hypertext system that connects large databases containing libraries of text and graphics, regardless of data structure, will be launched next year. According to Microbytes, Xanadu will be a repository connected to literally billions of personal computers and workstations. Initially Xanadu servers will be Sun workstations, with versions for the Macintosh and 80386-based personal computers coming later. The user’s personal computer or workstation will be connected directly to a Xanadu server, which in turn will be connected to a network of Xanadu servers. In order to succeed, Xanadu will have to be an inexpensive mass medium – Nelson is aiming for it to cost $2 an hour to use. The project has been funded for the past two years by Autodesk Inc, which bought 80% of Palo Alto, California-based Xanadu Operating Co in April 1988 (CI No 906). Autodesk sees the hypertext system as a back-end database system for comput er-aided design users to exchange engineering drawings. Prior to Aut odesk’s financial investment, Nelson and a handful of programmers worked on creating their version of Xanadu for a decade with no outside funds.
