Reconsidering the Memex

After reading Vannevar Bush's article "As We May Think," and reflecting upon the advancements in Internet technology since the conception of the Memex in 1945, I can confidently say the Internet has come about as the conglomeration of several different approaches to the web. Those at MIT in 1995 agreed that the Memex was the origin of an idea that has evolved into the infinite, dynamic world of the Internet. Most notably, Tim Berners-Lee's thought processes behind the World Wide Web seemed to coincide with those of Bush; the Memex and WWW both were created upon the idea of "trails," which we now know as hyperlinks, that would help us navigate the recesses of the Internet.

A Google search turned up a few interesting results when using "Memex" as the keyword. I found a Youtube video diagramming the operations of the Memex, as envisioned by Bush that was created at the 50th Anniversary of the Memex conference. While it is definitely technology that has been surpassed by faster, more efficient creations, it still holds merit as an early example of what information technology could have developed into, had there not been the development of APRAnet, email, and other pre-WWW achievements.

I think the Memex was clearly the best example of early activity trying to find an outlet for streamlining information of many different sorts and allowing ease of use and storage for said information. Since time has began there has been a need to organize information in a way that would lend itself to fast, seamless access, analysis, and utilization. At this point in time the Internet is our go-to source for this data process, but the Memex will always represent a revolutionary, if impractical, suggestion to bridge the gap between information processing and information access.