When development started in 1960, many people thought Project Xanadu would change the world. Then one delay led to another and another and another. But after 54 years in development the world’s most delayed software went live.
It’s called OpenXanadu. Described as “the original hypertext project” on its website, the software is basically a fancy mark up too. Had it been ready on time, there’s a good chance the original web would have been built on Xanadu instead of HTML. But 54-ish years late, it is at least a record-holder and a pretty solid punchline. “We screwed up in the 1980s, and missed our chance,” Xanadu’s developer Ted Nelson told The Guardian. Missed it by about three decades.
So even though it’s late to the party and missed at least one huge chance at relevance, OpenXanadu finally made it, and hey at least we’re talking about it. The bad news is now Half-Life 3 has a tough record to beat. [The Guardian]