Reed's Ruminations: The Past, Present, and Future
Reflections on science, technology, and computing — leavened by personal experience
Tag: Memex
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Holiday Explanations: So, What Do You Do?
During the holidays, researchers are often asked what they do. Answer carefully; do not confirm stereotypes.
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Intellectual Amplification via Computing
As the recent performance of IBM’s Watson system on the game show Jeopardy! Illustrated, the combination of large-scale data, rich algorithm suites and powerful computing is opening new vistas. Vannevar Bush’s 1940s vision of a Memex, a device capable of storing, indexing and retrieving data from a broad knowledge base, is now within our reach.
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Life in the Clouds
Diverse computing services, backed by massive data centers, are now being delivered not just to businesses but to individuals and their mobile devices. Life in the clouds is here, primitive but evolving rapidly in response to powerful social and economic forces.