About TileStack

A Simple Idea

TileStack is a simple idea with endless potential. We asked ourselves, "What if it were possible for kids, teachers, hobbyists and even small businesses to quickly learn how to create interactive slides, games, applications and more?" Imagine the possibilities when everyone, not just the computer geeks, have the know-how. Give them a community where they can come together, share ideas, learn by example and improve the creations of one another. And encourage them to share and publish what they make, so everyone can enjoy it.

When TileStack was first taking shape, we wanted to create an experience that would really get people's creative juices flowing. It should be like using a simple paint program, where you're free to doodle, but with added abilities such as allowing people to capture and organize information. Keeping with that idea, we decided that, unlike the single canvas you get in a paint program, you should be able to paint on multiple canvases, and you should be able to link the canvases together to make a loosely connected slideshow of sorts. We chose to call each canvas a "Tile" since you can place drawings, pictures, buttons, fields and other content on them. Connect a few together and you have a "Stack", thus the name "TileStack".

HyperCard Evolved

While we were brainstorming how TileStack would work, it occurred to us that a product with similar goals had been built in the past. Back in 1987, Apple released HyperCard with some similar thoughts in mind. And for about 10 years, HyperCard was a very popular way for everyday Macintosh users to create a wide range of things. Teachers and students created teaching aids, business owners built their own applications, and numerous people used it to build games, most notably Myst. Unfortunately, the 90s were tough for Apple, and the technology languished without the attention it needed. By the time Steve Jobs returned, he had bigger things to worry about than reviving HyperCard. Eventually it was discontinued.

The good news for fans of HyperCard is that once we realized the similarities between what we were doing and what HyperCard had done, we decided to embrace the connection 100%. As a result, we've set out to have TileStack support and be compatible with HyperCard in as many ways as possible. That's why we took the time to build an importer that can convert your old HyperCard stacks into TileStacks, and why, when its feasible, we model features of TileStack around the concepts found in HyperCard.

Your Creations on the Web, iPhone and More

Ultimately though, TileStack is much more than just a HyperCard clone or replacement. HyperCard concepts anchor what we do, but we are evolving those ideas for the future in unique ways. Since TileStack is built on web technologies, the stacks you create can run on any computing device with a modern web browser. And when you choose to publish one of your creations, it can be reached by millions of people around the world. They can enjoy your creation and even learn from it.

And that's just the beginning. We recently announced that we support publishing your stacks to the iPhone, and soon we'll be offering similar abilities for other platforms. Before TileStack, these were things that would have been unimaginable for everyday computer users to accomplish. We're building the creative playground so you can explore a whole new world. Join us!