Memex Forges An Early Link

I think that this article reflecting on the idea of the Memex (as viewed in the 2000s) is interesting. Similar to the articles we read before this, it is a summary of the concept. It also does point out some interesting facts towards the end. This author credits Vannevar Bush with the influence he had on hypertext, and from my perspective his influence on the concept of the internet. This device to help human memory expansion was a singular machine which had various functions. It was interesting to me how he valued simplicity and convenience. I found this quote very interesting in the article I found as well:
"He predicted that useful electronic brains would have to be the size of the Empire State Building with cooling systems that had the capacity of Niagara Falls, and he later adamantly opposed the U.S. manned space program as doomed to failure."

According to this article, he did not have correct predictions in functionality originally. He eventually imagines a much smaller machine, one that can be used for personal use. This is what I think is interesting because that is influential in the development of the laptop.



http://books.google.com/books?id=r-nY0HvR-7UC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=Memex+Forges+An+Early+Link&source=bl&ots=fS0In85Bgh&sig=XSrheeUkTlpcyQpcLwV0BqnotTo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=K8xFVLXQGIKNyATR5YGoAQ&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Memex%20Forges%20An%20Early%20Link&f=false