Memex

            My initial reaction to Dr. Vannevar Bush’s outline of the Memex in, “As We May Think,” was that he seemed to be describing a mixture between a Personal Computer and the World Wide Web. I envisioned his desk-like model but with a larger flat workspace, like an art canvas; I imagined that interaction with Memex would’ve been like working with a touchscreen computer or tablet. It seemed that with every technological problem he described in that time we have a solution for now. Every futuristic technology he described I could think of a similar technology we currently employ. It is truly astounding how accurate many of his ideas and predictions were and that the Memex never came to be.

            I found a slideshow put together by David Lavenda who is a Technology Strategist and an Information Overload Researcher. His arrangement was information given throughout “As We May Think” but the way he presented this information made it much easier to understand. By asking and answering questions like, “Why wasn’t it ever built,” “What impact did it have on future technologies,” and, “Why was it important,” he showed just how big of a deal this essay was in 1945. David also highlighted key points that could easily be missed amongst the large essay. Overall I think that the slideshow about Memex was well done and very informative.

http://www.slideshare.net/dlavenda/the-memex-presentation