Comment Re:What did HyperCard even do? (Score 1) 46
Hypercard was basically an interface-first database app which let you build interfaces easily to do things with the records. You had a "stack" of "cards" and each card had properties. If you wanted to make your own custom address book (no one wanted to do this, in reference to your second sentence) or track the migratory habits of swallows, you could throw a bunch of fields on a page layout and boom you had a whatever tracking "application." It's been a while, but I remember mostly being able to add fields and images. You could add extensions that would make the software do more interesting things, but most of those cost money. You could script more interesting behavior than just filling in some fields, but that was beyond the abilities of most users without training — and more importantly, interest.
As it shipped, Hypercard was less useful than a decent address book and notepad application would have been to the average user. Apple really missed the boat there. If they had just had a drag and drop "scripting" system based on flowcharts, and given away just a little more functionality, Hypercard might have appealed to more users instead of eventually getting overwritten with homework. But hey, free floppy!