Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism. Yet if the user inserted 5000 pages of material a day it would take him hundreds of years to fill the repository, so he can be profligate and enter material freely.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The memex device has limited storage but can hold vast amounts of material over a long time. Users should not worry about running out of space.
- In plain terms
- Even though storage seems small, you could fill it over hundreds of years so you can store freely.
- What can you take from it?
- Don't worry about running out of space on storage devices.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Do you hoard data?
- How much space do you need?
Another view
Physical storage is finite despite seeming vast.
More from Vannevar Bush
Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and to coin one at random, memex will do.…
Permalink to quote #29 Most of the memex contents are purchased on microfilm ready for insertion. Books of all sorts, pictures, current periodicals, newspapers, are thus obtained and…
Permalink to quote #31 Our ineptitude in getting at the record is largely caused by the artificiality of systems of indexing. When data of any sort are placed in storage, they are fi…
Permalink to quote #28
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