The short version
Gwern's critical history of Project Xanadu and its unrealized hypertext design.
From the HackerLinks archive
Xanadu: The Internet That Might Have Been
Gwern's critical history of Project Xanadu and its unrealized hypertext design.
At a glance:
First seen:2026-09-04
Last seen:2026-09-04
Times seen:1
Website:gwern.net
Why it caught our attention
A commenter called it a compelling counterargument to the usual sympathetic Xanadu narrative.
Where it surfaced on Hacker News
2026-09-04
“In my view, Gwern makes a compelling counterargument: Xanadu was a fundamentally bad idea.”
ameliaquining · recommendation · evaluated
Direct HN comment
Xanadu was waiting for agents