As We May Think [Thomson]

Vanneaver Bush wrote the piece, As We May Think in 1945 as he outlined a future world where advances in technology alters the world he once knew. He predicts a device where humans can store things like books, recordings, and communications onto a single device. He explores the concept that technology is an extension of how we know the world and its effect on writing. Bush accurately illustrated an image of humankind changing forever as our modern society relies on technology in almost all aspects of life. He predicts a storage device for all knowledge obtained through history, which is exactly what the internet allows us to do. Bush doesn’t fully predict the extent to which this has become possible as we can locate virtually any information at the tap of a few keys. Additionally, Bush accurately envisions advances in voice recognition as the iPhone’s “Siri” and the Echo Dot’s “Alexa” are spoken to as if they are real people. These devices can respond with information at extremely high speeds and can even respond with jokes or witty comments. Bush predicted many things that did indeed come to life, however he fell short of the extent to which technology has evolved and altered humankind.

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