As we may think

As We May Think was written by Vannevar Bush before computers existed, and most of his ideas of what the future would look like are easily realizable nowadays with them, we have advanced even further technologically than Vannevar would had ever imagine, however, conceptually we still lapse behind.

The memex, probably the most interesting out of Bush’s visions of future machines and central to this writing, approaches what a personal computer has become to be in astonishing ways. PC’s are a personal record of information, a machine with the ability to access an immense amount of knowledge by just inputting a few commands, these are definitely part of the functions of a personal computer, along with the mathematical abilities Vannevar dream for other machines, and furthermore, almost infinite capabilities of extension trough software, limited only by the always expanding processing speed and total digital storage. Another major aspect missing from Vannevar’s vision that we currently have at the reach of our hands is the ability of all this miraculous personal devices to interconnect with each other.

I think more than ever we must think about Vannevar Bush’s call to a new relationship between thinking man and the sum of our knowledge. Perhaps, new designs that organize information in a less mechanical matter and more like his idea of traces. This traces concept is the single most important idea in his concepts, the ability to record the way we connect our otherwise seemingly disconnected thoughts and pieces of information. It is true that we create our own traces in the way we organize our information on our own PC’s but these traces are not easily available to others to explore or are easily made understandable without extended explanation.

It is true that everyday more powerful and readily available technologies come to the surface, it is important for us not to dwelve on the technologies themselves, but also to understand them and transform them with human elements, so that at the end, we use them to push and transform our concepts and general understating of the place we live in.

Interface

Parsons Design and Technology MFA-1^st semester

Carlos Giffoni