The Acme Dot Company is proud to introduce The Stack of Old Ships. This new HyperCard application is one of the first to dramatically embody the new potential of stackware as a medium of entertainment and enrichment.
Shipstack, as it is called for short, contains illustrations and sizable text descriptions of 60 classic wooden ships of days gone by, in addition to general texts and a large appendix devoted to the technology, evolution, and romance of the late, great wooden sailing ships.
From the Egyptian Galley of 1500 B.C. to the last great packet ships of this early century, The Stack of Old Ships contains more than the sum of an entire book, residing on two 800K floppy disks and featuring over 80 high-quality illustrations. Its entertaining prose style and copious digitized illustrations make it a joy to browse both for those who already enjoy sailing, and those who think they might.
For those who enjoy the Mac, however, Shipstack comprises more than a mere work about sailing ships. It is a full-fledged example of the staggering power of HyperCard to present information in a dynamically interconnected fashion. Though you may browse it linearly, just as with a book, multiple indices give you the power to browse ships either alphabetically, chronologically, geographically, by famous ships of history, or by famous men and women who sailed upon them. In addition, you may click on a 4000 year timeline to browse ships by era, or even hone your eye with a randomized graphic quiz function.
A click on any asterisked word in any text field whisks you instantly to an associated local footnote or graphic sequence in the appendix. Another click returns you to exactly the point you left off in the main text. And in addition to asterisked words, you may click on any word in any text field of the stack --if it, or even a variant of it, is present in the sizable glossary of terms, its definition will pop up automatically. Once again, with another key click you are returned to exactly the spot where you left off. That's the way a glossary should work.
The glossary can be used in other ways as well. You may scroll through the words, their definitions appearing automatically. Or you may choose to enter a search word from the keyboard.
In the case of especially difficult ship names, click on the name in the text field, and it will be correctly pronounced for you automatically!
If you'd like a glimpse at the future of the HyperCard medium, you owe it to yourself to have a look at The Stack of Old Ships.
The full version of the Stack of Old Ships requires a hard disk drive with at least 1500K of free space to operate. It comes as two separate stacks which automatically merge on your hard drive.
Priced at $30, Shipstack is a unique labor of love. To order send check or money order to the ACME DOT COMPANY, P.O. BOX 5923, TITUSVILLE, FL 32783. Thanks for your support.
