As We May Think

"The investigator is staggered by the findings and conclusions of thousands of other workers—conclusions which he cannot find time to grasp, much less to remember, as they appear" (As we may think 1). I feel that this is still somewhat the case today. Although now everyone is adding to the mass of information that is the internet. Bush's idea of the memex, a place where a person can easily create trails of information for others to follow has culminated into the world of hypermedia. Even though it is easier to find information then it once was, the world of hypermedia is still drowning people in an excess of information. A person still needs to pick and choose and now it is up to them to try and find what is actually accurate information as well. Since everyone has access to their own "memex" and "trailmaking", there is a lot more useless information within all the hypermedia. In this way I feel that hypermedia has hurt us, overwhelming people with useless information. But on the other hand, it has allowed for even the most insignificant person to have a part in contributing to the records. It has allowed users to be active and not just passive beings sucking in information.