Patent for advanced authoring tool from Apple looks like what iWeb should have been

Anyone remember HyperCard? I sure do. I miss HyperCard, an "authoring tool for the rest of us" that allowed mere mortals to make simplistic programs by ordering and linking "cards" and packing them up for users to try out on the Macs -- back in the 1980s, anyway. A patent unearthed by Patently Apple reminds me of HyperCard, and it looks similar to the toolset used to make iAds.

Apparently designed to make authoring content easier across a variety of platforms, Apple's authoring tools appear to use web technologies and some clever JavaScript effects. The multi-image displays sure remind me of QuickTime VR.

I think all of this just looks like what iWeb was meant to be: a standards-compliant, innovative, create-once-publish-anywhere tool that just works. Here's hoping we see it on the App Store soon!