The notion of computing as a utility, or a global network of linked information, may seem thoroughly modern. Both, however, predate the birth of what would become the internet. Even more curiously, it was a totally unrelated event that changed the course of history, and made these theoretical dreams reality.

The idea of hypertext and collaborative content creation, complete with procedures for copyright management and royalty payment, existed as early as 1965, several years before the recognised birth of the internet. Known as Xanadu, it was described and developed by Ted Nelson. It would allow anyone to publish digital content, would permit reuse of existing content, and create both links to other content, and "transclusion" links designed to include text, quotations or references located elsewhere.