| I had to read this article for a class on the advent of digital media, and all I could think of was E2. It is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in the roots of this site. Here's a brief synopsis I wrote:
In his 1945 article entitled "As We May Think," Vannevar Bush discusses technological advances during the time period and speculates on some future innovations. Bush worried that since World War II had ended, insufficient funding would hamper scientific progress. He continues, speculating about new forms of photography that would enable the photographer to simply wear a special pair of glasses and photograph his field of vision. The film would instantaneously be developed using a dry technique, contrary to the time-consuming chemical emulsion process of the time. It was this technology, as well as the microfilm technology already in use, that prompted Bush to come up with an idea for an information mass storage device he called the Memex. This proposed machine would store thousands of books and pictures, and would enable the user to take notes on the screen and save research "trails" (softlinks, anyone?!) for other users to utilize. The database of information stored in the device would be easily searchable and navigable with the use of a keyboard and sets of buttons and levers. Bush ends his article with a short discussion of his predictions about technology in the far future including a procedure enabling deaf people to hear.
A URL for the article is in an above writeup. | 
