Hypermedia

Hypermedia is a term created by Ted Nelson, and used in his 1965 article Complex information processing: a file structure for the complex, the changing and the indeterminate. It is used as a logical extension of the term hypertext, in which graphics, audio, video, plain text and hyperlinks intertwine to create a generally non-linear medium of information. This contrasts with the broader term multimedia, which may be used to describe non-interactive linear presentations as well as hypermedia.

The World Wide Web is a classic example of hypermedia, whereas a non-interactive cinema presentation is an example of standard multimedia due to the absence of hyperlinks.

The first hypermedia system was the Aspen Movie Map, while the first truly universal hypermedia was Hypercard. Most modern hypermedia is delivered via electronic pages from a variety of systems including Media players, web browsers, and stand-alone applications. Audio hypermedia is emerging with voice command devices and voice browsing.

Hypermedia development tools
Hyper media may be developed a number of ways. Any programming tool can be used to write programs that link data from internal variables and nodes for external data files. Multimedia development software such as Adobe Flash, Director, and Authorware may be used to create stand-alone hypermedia applications, with emphasis on entertainment content. Some database software such as Visual FoxPro and FileMaker Developer may be used to develop stand-alone hypermedia applications, with emphasis on educational and business content management.

Hyperlinks may also be added to data files using most business software via the limited scripting and hyperlinking features built in. Documentation software such as the Microsoft Office Suite allows for hypertext links to other content within the same file, other external files, and Uniform Resource Locator URL links to files on external file servers. For more emphasis on graphics and page layout, hyperlinks may be added using most modern desktop publishing tools. This includes presentation programs, such as Microsoft Powerpoint, add-ons to print layout programs such as QuarkXPress, and tools to include hyperlinks in PDF documents such as Adobe InDesign for creating and Adobe Acrobat for editing. Hyper Publish is a tool specifically designed and optimized for hypermedia and hypertext management. Any HTML Editor may be used to build HTML files, accessible by any web browser.