I remember thinking to myself, "This is going to change everything about how we communicate." A hyperlink is an interface element,

我记得曾经这样想过，“这将会颠覆我们交流的方式。”超链接是一个界面元素，

and what I mean by that is, when you're using software on your phone or your computer,

我的意思是，当你在手机或者电脑上使用软件时，

there's a lot of code behind the interface that's giving all the instructions for the computer on how to manage it,

软件界面的背后是无数代码，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: when we press on this, then something happens.

不过这个界面只是面对人类的界面：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 and not particularly glamorous.

不过超链接刚诞生的时候结构很简单，没什么特别之处。

Designers today have a huge range of options.

而当今的设计师拥有了大量的选择。

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 is the domain of the hyperlink.

那么针对互联网中任何地方的信息的一整套参考路径就是超链接的域。

Back when I was in school -- this is before people had wide access to the internet -- if I was going to do a research paper,

我还在学校读书的时候——那会儿互联网还没有普及——如果我想写一份研究报告，

I would have to physically walk to the library, and if they had the book that you needed, great.

不得不去图书馆查阅，如果能找到你需要的书，那再好不过。

You sometimes had to send out for it, so the process could take weeks.

有时候你需要申请借阅，等上几个星期也不足为奇。

And it's kind of crazy to think about that now, because, like all great innovations,

现在想想真是有点不可思议，就像面对很多伟大的创新一样，

it's not long after we get access to something that we start to take it for granted.

我们很快就会对一些新技术习以为常。

Back in 1945, there was this guy, Vannevar Bush.

回到1945年，有个叫万尼瓦尔·布什的人。

He was working for the US government, and one of the ideas that he put forth was, "Wow, humans are creating so much information,

他当时在为美国政府工作，他提出了一个点子，“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 or the connections between important ideas." And he had this idea called the "memex,"

但是我们却不能保存所有阅读过的书籍或者重要的想法之间的联系。”于是他提出了“麦克斯存储器”的概念，

where you could put together a personal library of all of the books and articles that you have access to.

让你把能够获得的所有资料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, Ted Nelson launches Project Xanadu, and he said, "Well, what if it wasn't just limited to the things that I have?

到了上世纪60年代，泰德·尼尔森启动了 “上都计划“，他说，“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 developed a system they called HyperTIES.

1982年，马里兰大学的研究人员开发了一个叫 “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 was going to work really well in terms of contrast, and people would be able to see it.

他们发现灰色背景上的蓝色的链接从对比度上来说效果很不错，很好分辨。

Apple invented HyperCard in 1987.

苹果公司在1987年发明了 "超卡"。

You had these stacks of cards, and you could create links in between the cards.

你可以用一摞卡片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 got a huge boost when the hyperlink came along,

这些类型的非线性讲故事的标记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, inspired Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web.

这些想法的发明，和其他点子一样，启发了万维网的创始人蒂姆·伯纳斯-李。

The hyperlink almost feels like a LEGO block, this very basic building block to a very complex web of connections that exists all around the world.

超文本跟乐高模块的作用非常相似，是一个遍布全球的非常复杂的网络连接的基本结构单元。

Because of the way that hyperlinks were first constructed, they were intended to be not only used by many people, but created by many people.

基于超链接构建的方式，它们的诞生不仅为了被很多人使用，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。