The Memex

It is astounding to see the similarities between the Memex proposed by Vannevar Bush and the information technologies of today. Back in 1945, Bush proposed the idea for this technology that could be used to store and access immense amounts of information at a time. Today, we use modern computers for very similar purposes in ways brought up by Bush. The notions of trails of information and the idea that encyclopedias could use this to link associated bits of information have been realized today through things like hyperlinks and Wikipedia/Wiki-style pages. In addition to this, Bush brought up that it would be possible to search both libraries of information and individual documents for specific terms and ideas. These are both possible today through thins like search engines and search bars which can be used to look for specific terms and phrases within a document.
Doing a Google search for the term "Memex" gave me an even greater idea of the technology that Bush imagined. Most interesting was the wealth of diagrams of the Memex that were available online. When I first read Bush's article "As We May Think" for another one of our FIG classes, I was confused as to th exact mechanics of how the machine would work, bu the diagrams available online helped me greatly in my understanding of the Memex. Also available was a YouTube animation that was uploaded in 2009 which showed exactly how the Memex would work. This makes it clear for those who are not necessarily tech-savvy enough to understand the technical elements of Bush's Memex. in addition to the diagrams and animations available through a quick search, there was also a breadth of articles available on the topic that elaborate on its functions and specifics. Overall, it is astounding how close this image proposed by Vannevar Bush so long ago has come so incredibly close to how modern technologies work and manage information. It will be interesting to see what developments occur in the future and if anyone from today becomes the sort of visionary of tomorrow that Bush has become in our minds.