Using a client written by Earl Fogel,[2] HyTelnet offered its users a primitive terminal-based GUI that allowed them to browse a directory of Telnet-based resources and then access them in a relatively standardized manner.
[citation needed] While beneficial early-on, as it ensured no dependence on a central server, HyTelnet's user experience could vary widely as local installations might not have the same version of the client or might have obsolete information.
Finally, when the World Wide Web gained pre-eminence, many of the services that HyTelnet pointed to were gradually retired, increasingly limiting its relevance.
[3] This is a typical HyTelnet screen running much as a user would have experienced it, rendered in non-proportional font to simulate a terminal.
Additional instructions for general types of library and research systems were also given in HyTelnet, such as this one for INNOPAC, a common library electronic card cataloguing database: The regular updates not only updated the list of resources, but also the help files in addition.