I read both articles by Bush, the one written in 1945 and the other one written in 1967 and found his ideas truly interesting. He dared to imagine things that did not exist during his time. His design of the “memex” is really carefully thought and provides the details originating from the fruits of his imagination. The “memex” helped inspire scientists and other innovators to create new products that have features similar to the “memex”. One interesting thing Bush mentioned is the way human brains work through association. Bush believed that it is not possible to fully replicate the associative capability of the human brain, but he thinks we can create a machine that works in an associative fashion, similar to the human brain. The MIT symposium in 1995 also added a couple valuable insights. One of the main themes discussed is how the co-evolution of technology and human practice is producing fundamentally new ways of human-machine interaction. This theme directly relates to Bush’s creative idea of the “memex” which can change the way humans work together with machines.
After searching online using the keyword “memex”, I found a
website that summarizes the articles Bush have written. The webpage describes
Bush’s prominent role in the society at that time. He was as an engineer,
policy maker and science administrator who had interests in technology and
politics. He is popular for his role in developing the atomic bomb and his work
on analog computing. The webpage also includes a sketch of the memex. It looks
like an ordinary desk from the outside, but inside, there are multiple cogs and
moving parts that make the desk extraordinary. In the webpage article, the
author mentioned that several notable scholars have given credit to him for his
influence and foresight. One of the scholars is Ted Nelson, who did the
pioneering work on the first hypertext system. Other scholars are Joseph
Licklider and Douglas Engelbart who made significant contributions in the field
of technology.
Link: http://history-computer.com/Internet/Dreamers/Bush.html
I thought it was very interesting how you found a commentary that contained information on Bush's reputation in society at the time of his writings compared to now as we analyze them. i like how you brought up Bush's overall theme in his writings on how humans and machines work together. I never thought too deeply into Bush's ideas of association comparing the human brain and machines. This makes his predictions of the "memex" and ideas much more interesting and clear to me. I think the commentary you found was interesting and you analyzed it well. Great thoughts!
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