Don’t forget the Memex

For next week I have to do a presentation at the University (University of Sussex) about “Interfaces” (a program that controls a display for the user (usually on a computer monitor) and that allows the user to interact with the system). And the aim is to compare the old and new interfaces that we can find. The first thing that I thought about was Wii! Yes, a perfect example of a very modern interface, in which you really need to touch almost nothing to play, you just have to move yourself!. What else? Touchscreens: Ipod, Iphone, mobile phones and some “intelligent dashboards”. For other people, Virtual Reality is a new kind of interface and maybe all the new devices to play computer games. The computer’s monitor itself is an interface.

But, talking about all these new and modern “interfaces” we don’t have to forget the past and people who was really visionary many years ago. And that is why I want to remember (at least some minutes while you read the blog) the Memex and Vannevar Bush who talked about it in 1945! He was the first one who talked about putting documents in order (and multimedia documents) so researchers could get the information they needed. And he was the first one who stated that people needed a machine to organize and look for information but AS WE MAY THINK!, it means like the brain works.

Here I inserted a picture and a video of The Memex (which was never constructed) and if you look at it, it is the base of the computers. Maybe Bush didn’t think about the Iphone or Virtual Reality, but he was really visionary.  What do you think is the future of interface? Which is the interface you like most?

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