The Memex: What Computers Could Be

In 1945, The Atlantic Monthly published an essay called "As We May Think" by then-Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, Dr. Vannevar Bush. This work is considered foundational for laying out a vision of how computers could help us re-organize and better utilize information.

In the essay, Bush argues that the next major advance of science should be to make our vast stores of knowledge more accessible and useful. He notes that technology has primarily been used to enhance humanity's physical prowess, and that the time has come to use technology to augment the human mind.

Bush writes of a device called a "memex," which sounds very much like a modern computer desktop and web browser. Using a memex allows users to find and view all sorts of information and media.

In addition to viewing individual items, the memex would allow users to create "paths" of information, linking individual items together into trails of knowledge that sum up entire subject domains. These paths can be stored and retrieved for future uses, and they can be shared with others.

This influential essay formed a vision for how information organization and sharing could develop in a digital world. As Bush attests, the technical mechanisms to build a memex were nonexistent at the time of writing, but we are now living in a world of new encyclopedias and trails of knowledge.