"As We May Think" is a visionary article authored by Vannevar Bush. It was released during 1945. So you might think what is so special about an article published more than 60 years ago. Because most of us might have an opinion that computer science is a volatile subject i.e. a concept/theory which sounds valid today might not be so an year after (some times even days after).
It may look correct at the peripheral level. If you have a deeper look in to the things, you might understand that only the representation and executions have been modified and the good old concepts remain the same. For example data structures like Stack , Queue etc.. If you take any programming language it's gonna be the same.Even for that matter, Ethernet is still the mostly used communication channel in most of the organization's Intranet.
Coming back to "As We May Think", it provides an unbelievable vision that the author had during 1945. He speaks about "Memex" - a collective memory. In short : A desk - display - dynamic contents - user's wish - users choice to modify - linking between documents.
You know what, that is nothing but the World Wide Web that we have today!. In an era where computers were not even in a shape, in an era when there was no internet, in an era when communication was so costlier, here comes a man who has think about World Wide Web.
Yet another proof of why it is important not to believe the obstacles that the present day science has. Yet another reason why I always wanted to be called " a dreamer; non-realistic"... All these things encourages me saying, "take up a project which sounds impossible to the core; work on it" .. After all, it is always not the success which counts.. It is the efforts which matters...
It reminds me a famous Kural :
கான முயலெய்த அம்பினில் யானை
பிழைத்தவேல் ஏந்தல் இனிது
[It is more pleasant to hold the dart that has missed an elephant than that which has hit hare in the forest.]
If you are interested in the complete article :
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/as-we-may-think/3881/
It may look correct at the peripheral level. If you have a deeper look in to the things, you might understand that only the representation and executions have been modified and the good old concepts remain the same. For example data structures like Stack , Queue etc.. If you take any programming language it's gonna be the same.Even for that matter, Ethernet is still the mostly used communication channel in most of the organization's Intranet.
Coming back to "As We May Think", it provides an unbelievable vision that the author had during 1945. He speaks about "Memex" - a collective memory. In short : A desk - display - dynamic contents - user's wish - users choice to modify - linking between documents.
You know what, that is nothing but the World Wide Web that we have today!. In an era where computers were not even in a shape, in an era when there was no internet, in an era when communication was so costlier, here comes a man who has think about World Wide Web.
Yet another proof of why it is important not to believe the obstacles that the present day science has. Yet another reason why I always wanted to be called " a dreamer; non-realistic"... All these things encourages me saying, "take up a project which sounds impossible to the core; work on it" .. After all, it is always not the success which counts.. It is the efforts which matters...
It reminds me a famous Kural :
கான முயலெய்த அம்பினில் யானை
பிழைத்தவேல் ஏந்தல் இனிது
[It is more pleasant to hold the dart that has missed an elephant than that which has hit hare in the forest.]
If you are interested in the complete article :
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/as-we-may-think/3881/
Comments
I am not a "King Maker" by the way , Balaji.. :)