Vannevar Bush and the WWW

Vannevar Bush:
Hopefully we can use hyperlink navigation for associative organiztion and a different method for different navigation. Right now there is a big problem locating information because it is created and coded in so many different ways. With the memex, I envisioned the ability to tap in the code of, say, a book. The code for the book would cause "the title page of the book [to] promptly appear" and allow the reader to follow its trail. I see two different types of codes on the Web right now. One is the code you can type into a search engine. The other is the URL code for a page. The search engine tries to understand real words, while the URL is unique to a page. There needs to be a uniform system for cataloging all of the information that goes into the memex or onto the Web so that there is a type of code that understands human language and is unique to a given trail.

Jim Marinetti:
Well, we've all been frustrated with search engines. You seem to be describing some sort of smart search engine that we would use only when we wanted to start down a new path...er...trail. Some people think that XML might be a language that would allow for such search engines to exist. There seem to be many possibilities but few successes.

Vannevar Bush:
Don't forget how young the Web is. I worked for years on some projects that never quite succeeded. The Web is struggling because it is trying to fulfill many uses. I conceived of the memex as mostly a reference tool and a way to store and build up human knowledge. The vision of the memex was not nearly as interactive as the Web; you couldn't buy anything using your memex. If I understand XML, I would think that it could be used to distinguish the purpose of a trail. Consumer trails could be coded differently than reference trails and computers might be smart enough to locate the right information...if the traiblazers organized and coded the trail correctly. Then the Web could fulfill the promise of the memex and maybe even some more.

Vannevar Bush discusses the potential of the World Wide Web

Jim Marinetti:
Well, Vannevar, let's hope that the Web does fulfill that potential as it matures. Maybe the vision of the memex and your ideas will help all those traiblazers and Information Designers out there. This has been very interesting, but sadly we're out of time. I'd like to thank Vannevar Bush for joining us today; this has been Futurists Revisited. Good night.