Tinderbox and Research

Hypertext '08 conference chair Peter Brusilovsky just paid a lovely tribute to Tinderbox in his ex tempore remarks opening today's session on social linking. He wanted to announce a Tinderbox demo during the coffee break this morning, observing that Tinderbox is "a lovely implementation of spatial hypertext" and wished that more ideas from this research community had been implemented as effectively.

A growing problem in our world of computing is the disconnection — perhaps even hostility — between research and development. People who build software systems and brands listen less often to research; Adapative Path CEO Peter Merholz recently observed that

The moment an academic takes the stage, the conference screeches to a halt.

I think we’ve got to fix this.