I was wondering if the first HyperExpo and StackMart, held in the home of the West Coast Computer Faire, would have a WCCF aura.
It was clear from the start that StackMart was smaller than the first WCCF: fewer than half the exhibitors, only a couple of dozen sessions. On the other hand, some of the same people (such as Larry Tesler) were there. As I wasn't at the first WCCF, I can't compare the moods of the two shows, but from what people tell me of that 1977 conference, I think this one had a little of the magic. And the exhibitors suggested that earlier market.
There were the books and magazines, demystifiers of the arcane. I picked up Keith Mathews and Jay Friedland's Encyclopedia Mac ROM, published simultaneously as stack and book by Brady/S&S (One Gulf + Western Plaza, New York, NY 10023), and Gary Bond's XCMDs for HyperCard, from MIS Press (1107 N.W. 14th Ave., Portland, OH 97209, 503-222-2399). I also got the Version 1.2 update to Jeff Stoddard's HyperCard Scripting from Walking Shadow Press (P.O. Box 2092, Saratoga, CA 95071, 408-354-7833); and the new issue of HyperLink magazine (P.O. Box 7723, Eugene, OH 97401, 800-544-0339) as well as the magazine-on-disk Stackazine (526 Jordan, P.O. Box 9, Bolingbrook, IL 60439).
There were the job opportunities. Contract developers were needed by Hall 4 (MCI mail 297-0147 or phone 408-973-7855), and Apple was looking for tech support people (Human Resources Dept. PM48H, 20525 Martani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014). There were stackware distribution opportunities with Heizer Software (P.O. Box 232019, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, 415-943-766 7 [office], 800-888-7667 [order line]). And MicroMaps Software was looking for authors to submit stackbased maps that it will distribute on a royalty basis with its open-ended HyperAtlas (P.O. Box 757, Lambertville, NJ 08530, 609-397-1611).
There were the services. The HyperMedia Group (1832 Woodhaven Wy., Oakland, CA 94611, 415-339-3322) offers consulting, application design, HyperTalk programming, and training. The Solutions Group (490 Santa Clara Ave., Redwood City, CA 94016, 415-368-1626) offers HyperCard-based presentations. And the Software Applications Group (P.O. Box 11089, Costa Mesa, CA 92627, 714-496-0881) offers HyperCard and CD-ROM development services.
There were the socially redeeming applications, such as the case study in the use of HyperCard to develop "prosthesisware" for an aphasic patient by Dr. Douglas Chute (Director of Neuropsycholoy, Drexel University, 215-895-1722).
There were the developers' tools. Symmetry (761 E. University Dr., Mesa, AZ 85203, 800-624-2485) makes HyperDA and the new HyperEngine that lets you open stacks from within your program. There was an XCMD and XFCN toolkit from Fidcor USA (728 Main St,, Louisville, CO 80027, 800-247-7130). And there was HyperBase, an XFCN that adds relational database capabilities to HyperCard, from Answer Software (20045 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014, 408-253-7515).
And there were user's groups, such as BMUG (1442 A Walnut St., #62, Berkeley, CA 94709), busily upgrading registered users to 1.2. BMUG has more than 50 disks of stacks today, attesting to the reality of stackware.
I wish I could list all the exhibitors here, but that would take about twice the space I have. There were some others that I must mention, such as DTP Advisor and The Electronic Whole Earth Catalog from Broderbund (17 Paul Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903, 800-527-6263); PageMaker templates on CD-ROM that can be previewed from a HyperCard front end, from Image Express (2101 W. Chapman Ave., Orange CA 92668, 714-938-1070); and a Louvre catalog, 6,000 works of art, 35,000 images, and video commentary on selected works from The Voyager Company (2139 Manning Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025, 213-474-0032).
And there was staclcware there that probably shouldn't be mentioned, too. I had been worried about hyperglut, tons of bad stackware. Now as ever, George Morrow got it right: "Ninety percent of the software gets written in ten percent of the time. The next nine and a half percent takes ninety percent of the time. The last half percent never gets done. But the software still gets sold."
Yes, I think there was a lot of the early WCCF spirit at HyperExpo. I just don't know if that's good news or bad news.