3 Points to Respond to:
1) In the final pages of Bush's paper
he speaks about bypassing the mechanical or physical action/aspect of
creating a result. He suggests we could tap into the electrical
pulses that govern our bodies. While for most of us that technology
is still just scifi reality I have heard/seen instances where this
technology is becoming reality.
An interesting point I thought of was
that all these possibilities that Bush came up with using various
mechanical technologies we wiped away just four years later with the
invention of the integrated circuit. Well perhaps not that quickly. I
do not know if and when Bush understood the impact of this invention
on his own concepts.
2) The sharing of “trails” as a
result of the memex was cool point to think about in modern terms.
Trails and the simultaneous viewing of multiple documents were both
cool. I can't think of any examples of trails in the sense that he
described them. To Bush trails were more free flowing than the
organization and gather methods that we have today. For sure the file
system on our hard drives are a more rigid basic example of what he
was trying to get at. With the innovation of the touch screen
technology I think more intuitive program design is coming to the
surface. But I think programs are still based largely on the rigid
old technology style. But surely the sharing of data is beyond what
he imaged. Of course we have the modern equivalent of his custom
trail microfilm swapping idea in the form of CD's and thumb drives.
However the internet is another beast entirely.
3) Some technologies or devices seemed
within arms reach to Bush. Like a it was a simple matter to hook up a
microphone to a typewriter and get them record spoken word. However
seemingly a simple task on the surface, today we still struggle with
this technology because it was discovered to be an extra ordinary
complicated task. We took for granted how simple speech or writing
seems to us as humans. Even today we struggle with only decent
handwriting recognition software and ok speech recognition. Perhaps
if it wasn't for the availability of the typewriter/keyboard if we
would have been forced to work harder on getting the two above
technologies to work?
Predictions for the Future
1) I predict that what lies between us
physically and our devices will ebb away faster and faster. While we
have been fantasizing for a long while now about becoming one with
our technology, there is still will be the need for a great debate on
the effects of cybernation on human kind and society. Will we take
that leap? I think we will, especially if we retain our current
American mindset. However is fun to think about alternatives to
cybernation that are not invasive to the human body.
2) Our homes: More and more house are
being built with today's technology (HDMI cables and home
entertainment center hook ups etc). However it is just a handful of
these expensive home that have this set up. Our homes will become
sleek and minimalistic. Our walls, floors and ceilings will be our
computers. In the future our houses will be one with technology just
as now our houses are one with electricity. Our houses will be built
with a standard amount of technology in them. Will we have to plug
in? No. Our laptops, cellphones, etc will be our house. Wither we
become one with technology or not we will be able to access our
“homes” whenever where ever we are.
3) Medical Advances: Perhaps our homes
will care for us. Integrating technology to reach out for help when
we can't. Our homes will keep us healthy by sending information to
our doctors. I don't think the medical field will advance much faster
than its current rate. Unless we decide to take a sudden extreme
interest and throw money at it. Secondly, there is the ultimate
limitation of “human time” or “human speed”. Our world will
always be limited by the factor of “human time”. For example
there are certain experiments and trials that need a whole lifetime
for meaningful data collection. For the medical field to make flying
advances, there needs to be at least a totally public domain for the
exchange of information between professionals.
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