Re: Re: Cyberdog?? What is (was) it?
Originally posted by chmorley
...part of a project called OpenDoc. OpenDoc developers would write "parts" that could be combined into a single application using drag and drop. It was unbelievably progressive. There is nothing like it now...
Exactly right. In Apple's words, OpenDoc provided "a new user paradigm: the user focused on creating a document or performing a task, rather than on using a particular application."
The idea was that a document could be created out of objects (called "parts"), where editors or viewers specific to each type of object would handle your interaction with that part of the document.
In the application-centric view, for example, you can only put a video in your word processing document if your word processor happens to have support for display or editing of videos. You can only put a video in an e-mail if your e-mail application happens to have support for display or editing of videos.
In contrast, if you had an OpenDoc "part editor" for videos, you could put a video (and edit it in place) in any OpenDoc application. Your word processor, your e-mail program, or any other OpenDoc application would automatically support videos.
Apple got IBM on its bandwagon and the two companies developed it together, but OpenDoc never caught on.