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As We May Think

This presentation delves into Vannevar Bush's groundbreaking essay "As We May Think," highlighting his contributions to early computing and information technology. We explore his predictions about future technologies such as the Memex, designed for information storage and retrieval. The agenda includes a background on Bush's life, his military research during WWII, and his insights on technological limitations. We also examine his mispredictions regarding the rise of digital technology and the importance of sharing knowledge in the modern world.

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As We May Think

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  1. As We May Think Vannevar Bush Presented by: Eylon Caspi <eylon@eecs> AJ Shankar <aj@eecs> Jingtao Wang <jingtaow@eecs> CS294 Reading The Classics 9/21/04

  2. Agenda • Background of Vannevar Bush and“As We May Think” • Technological Predictions • Memex • Limitations, Mispredictions, Lessons

  3. Bio – early year highlights • Born on March 11, 1890, in Chelsea, Massachusetts.He had two sisters • Educated at Tufts College, graduated in 1913 • Worked for General Electric and was laid off after a fire • Started teaching position at Clark University in 1914 • Earned his doctorate in engineering in less than a year from MIT • Got faculty position at Tufts and later at MIT

  4. Bio – before WWII • Analog computers at MIT, 1930s • Differential analyzer – 1930 • Claude Shannon was one of his student at that time • Became the president of the Carnegie Institute in 1937 • Microfilm Rapid Selectorat MIT, 1938-40

  5. Bio – during the war • Created military research • NDRC ‘40, OSRD ‘41-47 • Managed nuclear weapons research throughout the 40’s • Manhattan Project • Wrote “science - the endless frontier” 1945

  6. Post-WWII • Military consultant through 50’s • Recommended the creation of NSF • The Vannevar Bush Award was created by the National Science Foundation in 1980 • After WWII, Bush continued to push for analogue computers (and against digital).

  7. Bush on the Role of Science Master the Environment Knowledge, Communication

  8. Technological Predictions • Acquisition • Instant photography, dictation • Storage • Unlimited image storage in microfilm • Calculation / Automation • Fully automatic accounting (point-of-sale, billing) • Electric, fast • Programmable • Data entry job • Symbolic logic + math (à la Mathematica) • Retrieval • Rapid selection via index (card, film, or magnetic index) • Information workstation: Memex • Hyperlinks • Neural Interfaces

  9. Bush’s Memex • Store publications, correspondence, personal work, on microfilm • Items retrieved rapidly using index codes • Builds on “rapid selector” • Can annotate text with margin notes, comments • Can construct a trail through the material and save it • Roots of hypertext • Acts as an external memory

  10. Memex Limitations • Basic unit of content is an image page • No links to/from sub-text • No digital content • No keyword search, only TOC/index codes • No networking • No rapid info sharing, live docs, subscriber model • Economical? • Free libraries, starving academicians • Technical challenges unsolved (dry photography, tape robots) • Still no user trails today

  11. Mispredictions • Underestimated… • Rise of digital (Bush’s student Claude Shannon) • Networking (Rapid information sharing, content subscriber model) • Role of science in entertainment(as driver, beneficiary) • vannevar: /van'@·var/, n: • a bogus technological prediction,esp. due to overestimating a challenge

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