How the hyperlink changed everything | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Translator: Camille Martínez Reviewer: Krystian Aparta

翻译人员: Yolanda Zhang 校对人员: Tristan Yu

I remember thinking to myself,

我记得曾经这样想过，

"This is going to change everything about how we communicate."

“这将会颠覆我们交流的方式。”

[Small thing.]

【小发明】

[Big idea.]

【大点子】

[Margaret Gould Stewart on the Hyperlink]

【超链接: Margaret Gould Stewart 讲给你听】

A hyperlink is an interface element,

超链接是一个界面元素，

and what I mean by that is,

我的意思是，

when you're using software on your phone or your computer,

当你在手机或者电脑上使用软件时，

there's a lot of code behind the interface

软件界面的背后是无数代码，

that's giving all the instructions for the computer on how to manage it,

指导着计算机如何管理软件的运行，

but that interface is the thing that humans interact with:

不过这个界面只是面对人类的界面：

when we press on this, then something happens.

当我们点击超链接， 有些事情就会发生。

When they first came around, they were pretty simple

不过超链接刚诞生的时候 结构很简单，

and not particularly glamorous.

没什么特别之处。

Designers today have a huge range of options.

而当今的设计员拥有了大量的选择。

The hyperlink uses what's called a markup language -- HTML.

超链接运用了一种标记语言——HTML。

There's a little string of code.

有一小段代码。

And then you put the address of where you want to send the person.

然后你可以输入把某对象送达的地址。

It's actually remarkably easy to learn how to do.

这个过程非常简单易学。

And so, the whole range of references to information elsewhere on the internet

那么针对互联网中任何地方的 信息的一整套参考路径

is the domain of the hyperlink.

就是超链接的域。

Back when I was in school --

我还在学校读书的时候——

this is before people had wide access to the internet --

那会儿互联网还没有普及——

if I was going to do a research paper,

如果我想写一份研究报告，

I would have to physically walk to the library,

不得不去图书馆查阅，

and if they had the book that you needed, great.

如果能找到你需要的书，那再好不过。

You sometimes had to send out for it,

有时候你需要申请借阅，

so the process could take weeks.

等上几个星期也不足为奇。

And it's kind of crazy to think about that now,

现在想想真是有点不可思议，

because, like all great innovations,

就像面对很多伟大的创新一样，

it's not long after we get access to something

我们很快就会对一些新技术

that we start to take it for granted.

习以为常。

Back in 1945,

回到1945年，

there was this guy, Vannevar Bush.

有个叫万尼瓦尔·布什 （Vannevar Bush）的人。

He was working for the US government,

他当时在为美国政府工作，

and one of the ideas that he put forth was,

他提出了一个点子，

"Wow, humans are creating so much information,

“嘿，人类创造出了这么多信息，

and we can't keep track of all the books that we've read

但是我们却不能保存 所有阅读过的书籍

or the connections between important ideas."

或者重要的想法之间的联系。”

And he had this idea called the "memex,"

于是他提出了“麦克斯存储器 （memex）”的概念，

where you could put together a personal library

让你把能够获得的所有资料

of all of the books and articles that you have access to.

保存在个人图书馆中。

And that idea of connecting sources captured people's imaginations.

这个连接资源的点子 点燃了人们的想象。

Later, in the 1960s,

到了上世纪60年代，

Ted Nelson launches Project Xanadu,

泰德·尼尔森（Ted Nelson）启动了 “上都计划“（Project Xanadu），

and he said,

他说，

"Well, what if it wasn't just limited to the things that I have?

“那如果不仅限于我拥有的资源呢？

What if I could connect ideas across a larger body of work?"

如果我可以连接 更庞大的信息体系中的概念呢？”

In 1982, researchers at the University of Maryland

1982年，马里兰大学的研究人员

developed a system they called HyperTIES.

开发了一个叫“HyperTIES”的 超文本系统。

They were the first to use text itself as a link marker.

他们首创了把文字本身 当做链接标记的做法。

They figured out that this blue link on a gray background

他们发现灰色背景上的蓝色的链接

was going to work really well in terms of contrast,

从对比度上来说效果很不错，

and people would be able to see it.

很好分辨。

Apple invented HyperCard in 1987.

苹果公司在1987年发明了 "超卡"（HyperCard）。

You had these stacks of cards,

你可以用一摞卡片

and you could create links in between the cards.

来创建卡与卡之间的链接。

HyperCard actually created the ability to jump around in a story.

超卡实际上创造了 在一个故事中随意跳跃的能力。

These kinds of notions of nonlinear storytelling

这些类型的非线性讲故事的标记

got a huge boost when the hyperlink came along,

在超链接发展的过程中 得到了繁荣发展，

because it gave people the opportunity to influence the narrative.

因为它给了人们 影响叙事方法的机会。

These ideas and inventions, among others,

这些想法的发明，和其他点子一样，

inspired Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web.

启发了万维网的创始人 蒂姆·伯纳斯-李（Tim Berners-Lee）。

The hyperlink almost feels like a LEGO block,

超文本跟乐高模块的作用非常相似，

this very basic building block to a very complex web of connections

是一个遍布全球的 非常复杂的网络连接的

that exists all around the world.

基本结构单元。

Because of the way that hyperlinks were first constructed,

基于超链接构建的方式，

they were intended to be not only used by many people,

它们的诞生不仅为了被很多人使用，

but created by many people.

也是为了被很多人陆续创建出来。

To me, it's one of the most democratic designs ever created.

对我来说，这是史上 最民主的设计发明之一。