ABSTRACT
Prior to the 1970s computer text files were primarily plain text files containing straight presentations of characters without specialized formatting or interactive links. All that changed with the advent of hypertext, said by many to be the inspiration of the Internet as it exists today. Theodor Nelson coined the term “hypertext” in the 1960s to describe his conceptualization of a new form of electronic text that would be nonsequential rather than linear. Such text would allow readers to branch off in an endless array of directions, according to their interests and needs. He began working on a program, dubbed Xanadu, to achieve this purpose.
