MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
"As We May Think" --
A Celebration of Vannevar Bush's 1945 Vision,
An Examination of What Has Been Accomplished,
and What Remains to Be Done
Thursday, October 12, 1995
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Where the Trail Leads
Theodor Holm Nelson
Like any concise work of prophecy, "As We May Think" supports numerous
interpretations and leads to issues of extrapolation. We gather today to pay
homage, and quibble as to whose idea most loyally expresses what was
originally said.
Bush foresaw a publicly accessible, fast-access connected literature which
would allow people to publish connections among already-existing
materials. But the structure he foresaw, which he called the "trail," was
rather different from today's spaghetti hypertext; Bush's structure was
based on transclusion (virtual inclusion) rather than links. It deserves
detailed study.
Suitably extrapolated and polished, I believe this idea leads to transparallel
media (connected objects seen together with their connections), and the
design of a widespread copyright arrangement for unfettered re-use.
To the symposium Agenda.
To MIT EECS home page.
Your comments are welcome.
Rev. PP Oct 2, 1995.