Hypertext pioneers envisioned linked knowledge networks
Before the web flattened hypertext into one-way links:
Vannevar Bush (1945) — "As We May Think" described the memex, a device for storing and linking personal knowledge trails.
Ted Nelson (1960s) — Coined "hypertext." Xanadu project envisioned bi-directional-links, transclusion, version control.
Doug Engelbart (1968) — Mother of All Demos showed linked documents, collaborative editing.
The web implemented degenerate hypertext: one-way links, no backlinks, no transclusion. digital-gardens try to recover what was lost.
Modern tools (Roam, Obsidian, Notion) implement pieces of the original vision. Bi-directional links especially.
The pioneers understood: knowledge-work-should-accrete requires infrastructure. Links aren't just navigation—they're the mechanism of thought.