The Technical Evolution of Vannevar Bush’s Memex (2008)

There were attempts at Memex-like systems in the 1950s and 1960s. Microfilm readers with bar codes for automatic searching were built. There was even a system which used two rolls of microfilm, one of which had updates to the other, and synchronized them.[1] Change control, the early years.

Differential analyzer technology moved into aiming devices for weapons. Analog gunnery computers for ships used many of the same components as the differential analyzer.[2] WWII radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns and the Nike missile all used analog integrators, but electronic or at least electromechanical ones. Aircraft through the F-16 used flight control systems with analog computers.

So, while Bush's work didn't lead to Memex, it led to a long line of effective military control systems.

[1] http://www.google.dj/patents/US3751152 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdZZuteFZfo

I am always curious how Vannevar Bush would have perceived the Web ("This is the essential feature of the memex. The process of tying two items together is the important thing.") and projects like Wikipedia ("Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative trails running through them")

I've by now read this essay a couple of times, and I find myself often thinking of how one could realize a modern version of this (table and all).

Any modern attempts that anyone could shed a light on?

Obligatory Laine: Serial Experiments reference

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj6ADC8ezxk

* https://youtu.be/l1yI7un5NyQ?t=1023