Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
system, Windows, to sit on top of MS-DOS, the Microsoft operating
system which ran on most IBM and IBM-compatible personal com-
puters, which looked and worked remarkably like the Macintosh.
The potential offered by the WIMP (windows, icons, mouse,
pointer) interface led to the computer's infiltration into many new
or relatively under-exploited areas, including graphic design,
printing and publishing, sound production, image manipulation
and production, as well as extending its traditional relationship
with business.
26
It also brought multimedia and hypertext/hypermedia into the
reach of commercial developers and the public. This was helped by
the arrival of the compact disc, which, though originally intended
for music, could equally well store other kinds of digital data.
Known as the CD-Rom, the compact disc became a platform on
which games and multimedia could be stored and accessed. In
1987
Apple released HyperCard, a hypermedia-programming environ-
ment intended for general use. Using the metaphor of the Rolodex
card index, and integrated with a simple scripting language,
HyperTalk, HyperCard enabled users to build working software,
databases, hypertexts and more, as well as to integrate different
forms of media and control other devices. Other multimedia
authoring software was also developed to enable the production
44 Apple Macintosh model
M001,
c
. 1985, with keyboard
and mouse.
