response 1

When I think of the World Wide Web, I never really quite grasp simply how far it reaches or where each link stems from. With Bush’s essay about the memex, I was able to get a stronger grasp on how many of the ideas behind new media came to be. The memex seems to strongly resemble a very basic form of the Internet. While it doesn’t connect all users together and allow each one to fully interact, it does gather a multitude of information and link together common themes.
Bush describes the memex as a “private file and library,” a place where a person “stores all his books, records, and communications…that may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility.” He continues to describe the memex as a supplement to his memory. This depiction strongly resembles today’s Internet. While it is most definitely not private, it does serve as a file and library. One can access it quickly and with ease (normally). However, while the memex may be used to aid the memory, the Internet provides a plethora of new information. I do feel, though, that through linking the different information together, the memex could provide its user with new and useful data. The memex also allows users to annotate the files they are viewing, much like the message boards of blogs of today.
With this device, Bush is depicting a certain type of reader and writer. I feel he is portraying a very interactive reader and writer. One who does so to gain information and expand his amount of knowledge. I think the reader using a memex would become a better writer because of the ability to comment right along with one’s literature.
These ideas coincide with Kirschenbaum’s ideas from the previous reading. He strongly felt the new media used by individuals now is creating more reading and providing different avenues for people to write. However, Gioia and Iyengar would disagree. They wouldn’t have liked the memex feature that allows users to flip through pages quickly – even flipping up to a rate of 100 pages at a time. Gioia and Iyengar didn’t feel that this was considered reading.