It’s very odd to read Vannevar Bush’s thoughts on the future of technology, to say the least. In his article As We May Think, Bush describes a new information system that he believed would come about in the near future, a future that-for us-has already occurred. He writes of a machine that will be able to spit out information more quickly than ever before, a machine that would simplify everyday life in extraordinary ways.
It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture at which he works. On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.
– Vannevar Bush
It is clear to us, as readers from the 21st century, that he is in effect describing a computer. For most modern day members of society a computer is an everyday household object that is not given much thought until it needs to be fixed or updated. for most of us it is hard to imagine a world where computers only exist in the minds of a few. It is unbelievable that an article written in the 1940’s can still be so accurate in 2012.
Bush does not only describe future technology- in fact, I am not entirely sure that was the point of his article. At the very end he states:
The applications of science have built man a well-supplied house, and are teaching him to live healthily therein. They have enabled him to throw masses of people against one another with cruel weapons. They may yet allow him truly to encompass the great record and to grow in the wisdom of race experience. He may perish in conflict before he learns to wield that record for his true good. Yet, in the application of science to the needs and desires of man, it would seem to be a singularly unfortunate stage at which to terminate the process, or to lose hope as to the outcome.
-Vannevar Bush
Bush is intent on impressing to his readers that, although he believes technology will be helpful, it can also be harmful. The technology we possess today allows us to do extraordinary things, but it also has the ability to do absolute devastation. We must consider the power we now wield, especially because technology will only continue to advance.
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