A look at the technological side of Vannevar Bush's
As We May Think
By Jules Herr, Greg Phoenix, and Bert Weidt
If someone told you that in forty years everyone in the world will have the ability to access any piece of information on any topic that is known to humankind in a matter of seconds, you would probably think that person was crazy. In essence, this was what Vannevar Bush's article As We May Think said to the world.
Written in 1945, As We May Think is an extrordinary example of Bush's amazing technological foresight. In the article, Bush writes about various pieces of technology that are far beyond the scope of what 1945 had to offer. Bush begins by explaining how scientists and researchers are currently struggling with the inadequate methods of transmitting and reviewing results and information of research. In his review of the current inadequate method, he mentions how slow and bogged down the system is, and how it is impeding the progress of science. The conclusion that Bush comes to is that in order for large sums of scientific information to actually be useful, the information must be stored, updated regularly, and made easy to use. What device will be able to do all of this? Bush has many fantastic ideas about the technology to do such a thing.
It has been said that "A picture tells a thousand words", and Dr. Bush certainly recognized the capability of images to convey information and ideas. In As We May Think, He talks about the concept of "dry photography", and how it will lead to tremendous innovations in technology. Unlike a photography process that requires pictures to be wetted in order for them to be viewed, dry photography would allow for a picture to be viewed directly after it was taken. Today, we have such technology as the Polaroid Camera and various other types of equiptment that can easily perform such a feat. In a round-about way, Bush also put forth the notion of the modern day fax machine, which again operates on the concept of dry photography, and allows for the easy tranfer of information between researchers.
Another technological advancement that Bush talked about was the invention of a device that would allow for intense amounts of informaiton to be stored on microfilm so that "the Encyclopedia Britannica could be reduced to the size of a matchbook." Today, we have microfilm technology that allows for just that. Besides being able to store tons of information on readable microfishe, we also have microchips that can store unimaginable amounts of information in half the size of a matchbook.
How do we record all of this information? Dr. Bush also had a high-tech idea for this. Bush said that the scientist of the future would have devices that allows for hands free movement, records images, words, and also the time and date. In essence, what Dr. Bush was describing was the hand held video camera, among other high-tech devices now used to record information. Even beyond the video camera, Dr. Bush began talking about technology that could perform elaborate mathematical functions in milliseconds, which now, would be the equivalent to a pocket-sized Hewlett Packard Scientific Calculator.
Finally, Dr. Bush starts to describe what he terms a "memex", which is a "device in shich an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it can be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility". Without a doubt, Dr. Bush's "memex", is the equivalent of today's personal computer. This concept is perhaps the pinnacle of Dr. Bush's amazing technological foresight. After all, in 1945 there was barely any basis for thinking about such a device, and the technology was far from available. Granted, Dr. Bush didn't invent the personal computer, but he did make a valuable contribution to the concept of it. Besides forming the concept of the personal computer, Dr. Bush also thought of how information could be stored and accessed. For this, Bush described a system that is very similar to today's World-Wide Web and the notion of "hypertext".