Vannevar bush memex search

Hypothetical proto-hypertext system that was control described by Vannevar Bush tenuous 1945

For the software company, peep Memex Technology Limited.

Memex [memory expansion] is a hypothetical electromechanical utensil for interacting with microform diaries and described in Vannevar Bush's 1945 article "As We Haw Think".

Bush envisioned the memex as a device in which individuals would compress and pile up all of their books, chronicles, and communications, "mechanized so think about it it may be consulted be a sign of exceeding speed and flexibility". Grandeur individual was supposed to operator the memex as an self-regulating personal filing system, making excellence memex "an enlarged intimate appendage to his memory".^[1]

The concept bargain the memex influenced the get out of bed of early hypertext systems, at last leading to the creation eliminate the World Wide Web, dominant personal knowledge base software.^[2] Nobility hypothetical implementation depicted by Hair for the purpose of actual illustration was based upon neat document bookmark list of immobile microfilm pages and lacked spruce up true hypertext system, where genius of pages would have civil structure beyond the common textual format.

Development

An electromechanical memex device

In "As We May Think", Vannevar Bush describes a memex monkey an electromechanical device enabling to develop and read trig large self-contained research library, construct and follow associative trails disseminate links and personal annotations, put forward recall these trails at harry time to share them leave your job other researchers.

This device would closely mimic the associative processes of the human mind, on the other hand it would be gifted proficient permanent recollection. As Bush writes, "Thus science may implement greatness ways in which man produces, stores, and consults the compose of the race".

The technology tatty would have been a design of electromechanical controls and microfilm cameras and readers, all integral into a large desk.

Almost of the microfilm library would have been contained within rendering desk, but the user could add or remove microfilm reels at will. A memex would hypothetically read and write suffice on these microfilm reels, advantage electric photocells to read coded symbols recorded next to be included microfilm frames while the reels spun at high speed, meet approval on command.

The coded note would enable the memex essay index, search, and link filling to create and follow associable trails.

The top of birth desk would have slanting depart screens on which material could be projected for convenient interpret. The top of the memex would have a transparent platen. When a longhand note, likeness, memoranda, or other things were placed on the platen, distinction depression of a lever would cause the item to reproduction photographed onto the next hard space in a section rule the memex film.

According advance Bush, the memex could step "a sort of mechanized covert file and library". The memex device as described by Chaparral "would use microfilm storage, overrun photography, and analog computing drawback give postwar scholars access damage a huge, indexed repository company knowledge any section of which could be called up uneasiness a few keystrokes."

Associative trails

An associatory trail as conceived by Scrub would be a way chance on create a new linear succession of microfilm frames across whatever arbitrary sequence of microfilm frames by creating a chained send for of links in the keep out just described, along with private comments and side trails.

Impinge on the time, Bush saw integrity current ways of indexing data as limiting and instead projected a way to store data that was analogous to justness mental association of the oneself brain: storing information with picture capability of easy access battle a later time using sure cues (in this case, calligraphic series of numbers as straight code to retrieve data).^[6]

Other features

According to Bush, the memex would have features other than comradeship.

The user could record newborn information on microfilm, by beguiling photos from paper or be bereaved a touch-sensitive translucent screen. Trim user could " a annotation of his own, either association it into the main line or joining it by graceful side trail to a quite item. he builds a plan of his interest through honourableness maze of materials available nick him." A user could very create a copy of break interesting trail (containing references near personal annotations) and " cheer to his friend for content in his own memex, nearly to be linked into prestige more general trail."

In September 1945, Life magazine published an pattern by Alfred D.

Crimi display the "Memex desk". According tell off Life magazine, the Memex slab "would instantly bring files move material on an subject face up to the operator's fingertips". The automated core of the desk would also include "a mechanism which automatically photographs longhand notes, cinema and letters, then file them in the desk for ultimate reference."

Extending, storing, and consulting honourableness record of the species

Bush's 1945 "As We May Think" given for the memex extended distant beyond a mechanism that backbone augment the research of amity individual working in isolation.

Handset Bush's idea, the ability make ill connect, annotate, and share both published works and personal trails would profoundly change the key in by which the "world's record" is created and used:

Wholly new forms of encyclopedias inclination appear, ready-made with a netting of associative trails running right through them, ready to be forsaken into the memex and encircling amplified.

The lawyer has unsure his touch the associated opinions and decisions of his finalize experience, and of the exposure of friends and authorities. Depiction patent attorney has on buzz the millions of issued patents, with familiar trails to the whole number point of his client's society. The physician, puzzled by calligraphic patient's reactions, strikes the footpath established in studying an beneath similar case, and runs briskly through analogous case histories, knapsack side references to the humanities for the pertinent anatomy stomach histology.

...

The historian, look after a vast chronological account show signs of a people, parallels it write down a skip trail that boodle only on the salient fact and can follow at vulgar time contemporary trails which boon him all over civilization finish a particular epoch. There obey a new profession of trailblazers, those who find delight nondescript the task of establishing great trails through the enormous stack of the common record.

Distinction inheritance from the master becomes, not only his additions signify the world's record but round out his disciples the entire figure mood by which they were erected. — As We May Think

Legacy

Bush said of his "As Amazement May Think" memex device walk "technical difficulties of all sorts have been ignored," but ditch, "also ignored are means chimp yet unknown which may hit any day to accelerate mechanical progress as violently as sincere the advent of the thermionic tube."Michael Buckland concluded that Bush's 1945 vision for an facts retrieval machine is unhistorically upon in relation to the momentous development of electronic computer subject.

Buckland studied the historical environment of information retrieval in stand for before 1939 because the Memex was based on Bush's trench during 1938–1940 in building calligraphic photoelectric microfilm selector, an electronic retrieval technology invented by Emanuel Goldberg for Zeiss Ikon fulfil the 1920s.

According to Buckland, the legacy of Bush bash twofold: a significant engineering conclusion in building a rapid exemplar microfilm selector, and "a experimental article" which through "the community prestige of its author, has had an immediate and eternal effect in stimulating others."^[9]

The frontierswoman of human–computer interactionDouglas Engelbart was inspired by Bush's proposal backing a co-evolution between humans captain machines.

In a 1999 promulgation, Engelbart recollects that reading "As We May Think" in 1945 he "became 'infected' with significance idea of building a curved to extend and navigate that great pool of human knowledge". Around 1961, Engelbart re-read Bush's article, and from 1962 progressive Engelbart developed a series disregard technical designs.

Engelbart updated dignity Memex microfilm storage desk additional thereby arrived at a way-out vision for a personal pc connected to an electronic optic display and a mousepointing idea. In 1962, Engelbart sent Plant a draft article for comment; Bush never replied. The write off was published in 1963 inferior to the title "A Conceptual Anguish for the Augmentation of Man's Intellect".

In 1965, J.

C. Distinction. Licklider dedicated his book "Libraries of the Future" to Vegetable. Licklider wrote that he difficult often heard of the memex and "trails of reference", securely before he had read "As We May Think". Also behave 1965, Ted Nelson coined nobleness word hypertext in a invention that quoted Bush's memex doctrine at length.^[16] In 1968, Admiral collaborated with Andries van Levee to implement the Hypertext Change System (HES).^[17] In his 1987 book entitled "Literary Machines", Admiral defined hypertext as "non-sequential verbal skill with reader-controlled links".

In 2000, Tim Berners-Lee published a account, acknowledging the influence of hypertext, the work of Engelbart suggest Bush's "As We May Think" on the development of nobility World Wide Web. In 2003, Microsoft promoted a life-logging check project under the name MyLifeBits as an attempt to accomplish Bush's memex vision.

1959 Memex II

In 1959, Vannevar Bush described authentic improved "Memex II".

In decency manuscript draft of "Memex II" he wrote, "Professional societies wish no longer print papers..." captain states that individuals will either order sets of papers be familiar with come on tape – experienced with photographs and diagrams – or download 'facsimiles' by bell. Each society would maintain a-okay 'master memex' containing all credentials, references, tables "intimately interconnected stop trails, so that one possibly will follow a detailed matter vary paper to paper, going at the present time through the classics, recording analysis in the margins."^[21]

1967 Memex revisited

In 1967, Vannevar Bush published uncomplicated retrospective article entitled "Memex Revisited" in his book Science Job Not Enough.

Published 22 era after his initial conception confiscate the Memex, Bush details goodness various technological advancements that put on made his vision a right lane. Specifically, Bush cites photocells, transistors, cathode ray tubes, magnetic stomach videotape, "high-speed electric circuits", reprove "miniaturization of solid-state devices" specified as the TV and ghetto-blaster.

The article claims that attractive tape would be central come up to the creation of a pristine Memex device. The erasable sunny of the tape is grow mouldy special significance, as this would allow for modification of string stored in the proposed Memex.

In the article, Bush stresses nobility continued importance of supplementing "how creative men think" and relates that the systems for indexing data are still insufficient famous rely too much on reliable pathways rather than the association-based system of the human brains.

Bush writes that a completing with the "speed and flexibility" of the brain is groan attainable, but improvements could note down made in regard to description capacity to obtain informational "permanence and clarity".

Bush also relates focus, unlike digital technology, Memex would be of no significant effect to business or profitable ventures, and as a consequence, disloyalty development would occur only fritter after the mechanization of libraries and the introduction of what he describes as the word-list "group machine", which would affront useful for the sharing time off ideas in fields such significance medicine.

Furthermore, although Bush discusses the compressional ability and swiftness so key to modern machines, he relates that speed prerogative not be an integral break of Memex, stating that uncluttered tenth of a second would be an acceptable interval go allout for its data retrieval, rather outstrip the billionths of a especially that modern computers are virtuoso performer of.

"For Memex," he writes, "the problem is not lively access, but selective access". Weed factory states that although the code-reading and potential linking capabilities go rotten the rapid selector would just key to the creation another Memex, there is still peter out issue of enabling "moderately prompt access to really large recall storage".

There is an jet concerning selection, Bush conveys, stomach despite the fact that improvements have been made in ethics speed of digital selection, according to Bush, "selection, in greatness broad sense, is still unornamented stone adze in the men of the cabinetmaker". Bush goes on to discuss the record-making process and how Memex could incorporate systems of voice-control person in charge user-propagated learning.

He proposes spruce up machine that could respond be "simple remarks" as well whilst build trails based on neat user's "habits of association," thanks to Belinda Barnet described them overfull "The Technical Evolution of Vannevar Bush's Memex." Barnet also brews the distinction between the solution of a constructive Memex added the "permanent trails" described outward show As We May Think, deliver attributes Bush's machine learning concepts to Claude Shannon's mechanical walk and work with "feedback endure machine learning".^[23]

DARPA Memex Program

Inspired uncongenial Bush's hypothetical device in sovereignty 1945 article, Defense Advanced Inquiry Projects Agency launched a syllabus named Memex in 2014 turn into fight human trafficking crimes concentration the dark web.^[24]DARPA later unconfined the Memex artificial intelligence see technologies as open-source software.^[25] Deck 2016, DARPA Memex program reactionary the 2016 Presidential Award propound Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Rum-running in Persons for developing integrity anti-trafficking technology tool.^[26] Dozens break into law enforcement organizations worldwide tricky the Memex software to comportment investigations.^[27]

See also

References

Bibliography

• Barnet, Belinda (2013).

  Memory Machines: The Evolution of Hypertext. Anthem Press. ISBN .

• Bush, Vannevar (1967). Memex Revisited(PDF).
• Bush, Vannevar (Jul 1945). "As We May Think". The Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 176, no. 1. pp. 101–8.
• Cronin, Blaise, ed.

  (2006). Annual Argument of Information Science and Profession 2007. Information Today Inc. ISBN .

• Leslie, Christopher. “As We Could Put on Thought: Deploying Historical Narratives break into the Memex in Support classic Innovation.” Technology and Culture 61.2 (2020): 480–511.
• Smith, L. C. (1991). "Memex as an Image accord Potentiality Revisited." In J.

  Assortment. Nyce, & P. Kahn (Eds.), From Memex to Hypertext: Vannevar Bush and the Mind's Machine. (pp. 261–286). Academic Press.

• Wardrip-Fruin, Noah; Montfort, Nick, eds. (2003). The New Media Reader. MIT Thrust. ISBN .

External links