What happened to the promise of hyperlinked, interconnected documents?
Thats the promise ofcontextual computing.
Apps likeNotion,Roam Research,Obsidian,Devonthink, andCrafttreat everything within them as a linkable item.
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“This would greatly facilitate information access, and personal information management.”
But why is this limited to the internet?
“This lets me navigate between the relevant resources within 2 seconds.”
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On a computer, too much time is wasted trying to find the things youre working on.
Wheres that PDF you were reading 5 minutes ago?
With paper on a desk, you might spread things out, and they stay where they are.
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They have a spatial relationship that is easy to hold in your head.
This doesnt exist in a computerand yet our apps keep creating standalone documents that act like paper documents.
Interlinking
Instead, imagine ifeverything on your rig was interlinked.
Then, there are “backlinks,” found inapps like Roam.
This would greatly facilitate information access, and personal information management.
Can I Do This Now?
When you click that link, the original email opens.
I asked Beaudoin what would be needed to make hyperlinking universal.
Finding interrelated documents would be easy.
Security
Linking everything on your own computer is fine, but what if we take this public?
What happens if someone forgets their copy is linked, and pastes in private information?
But thats in the future.
For now, the biggest frustration is never being able to find what were looking for.
Contextual computing, where everything you need is automatically surfaced as and when you need it, changes this.
