engelbart and the NLS
Douglas Engelbart remains best-known as a hypertext pioneer and the creator of the mouse. This simplified biography obscures the primary role he played in fashioning computer technology to support writing. At Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s and 70s, Engelbart led a research project aimed at augmenting human intelligence with computer technology.
This project resulted in the NLS (oN-Line System) computer, an innovative tool for writing, featuring hypertext, split screens, rapid document structure manipulation, and robust collaboration capabilities. The mouse was invented for use with the NLS, but it was paired with another device, the chord keyset.
(image from <http://www.bootstrap.org/chronicle/pix/pix.html>
With the keyset and mouse together, users could navigate the outline-like hierarchical text used on the NLS to open and close branches, edit text, and jump on links (as demonstrated in this dimly-lit video):
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Here, Engelbart narrates his use of the keyset and mouse for navigating these kinds of documents:
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Despite a stunning demonstration in 1968 (from which these videos were made), the NLS did not become the default computer writing tool, nor did later word processing programs make much use of its innovations. Yet, with all its complexity and odd-looking features, it represents one of the first instances of writing with computers.
The contradiction between the NLS's potential for changing both writing and computing and its ultimate disappearance as a computer system provides a valuable site for analysis. The history of Engelbart and the NLS shows the kinds of resistance faced by new and innovative forms of literate activity, and the ways powerful sponsors reshape or ignore new technologies.