Vannevar Bush and the WWW

Jim Marinetti:
But Vannevar, easy navigation is one of the most valued qualities of Websites today. Just ask Jakob Nielsen. Isn't it important to let people find their own ways through information?

Vannevar Bush:
Yes. The whole idea of the memex was to allow people to organize and access information. Of course I want people to be able to know where information is located. I also want them to know or decide for themselves how the information is organized. But I don't think that the answer to the problem is providing twenty hyperlinks on every document.

Jim Marinetti:
So, Vannevar, what is the answer? What can your vision of the memex tell us to help shape the World Wide Web?

Vannevar Bush:
One of the most important changes to make in the Web is the shift the focus from the single document to the trail of documents. This should be easier on the Web than with the memex because the documents are being designed specifically for the Web. With the memex a trailblazer would have had to piece together letters and books and musical scores and all sorts of media that didn't quite fit together. The way I understand the Web, it works well with all sorts of media - even sound and video - and it should be easy to specifically design useful trails. Trails that tell important stories and reveal thought processes. Trailblazers shouldn't have to force awkard media types together awkwardly. They should be able to build cohesive trails of documents.

Is the Differential Analyzer the Answer?

Jim Marinetti:
I still want to know how people will access these trails. If the trails of documents will not focus on navigation, how will we reach them?

Follow Trail: Will Search Engines Solve Our Problems? >