Media, Information and Technoculture 2000F/G Lecture Notes - Packet Switching, Vannevar Bush, Ray Tomlinson
Document Summary
Internet was referred to as an informational tool. The first theoretical predecessors were encyclopedias, things that make knowledge available to everyone. The first one was cyclopaedia in 1728; record all scientific information in a book. Then a french version came around called encyclopedie by denis diderot. Encyclopedia britanica came around in 1768, modeled on the french encyclopedia. These systems had the idea of bringing revolutionary reform by organizing information and making it available to everyone; it wasn"t just the elites who could access information. Political tools as much as informational, since knowledge is power. Idea of making knowledge available to everyone inspired h. g. He wrote a series of essays at beginning of 20th century on the world brain . He was encouraged in this idea by the explosion of information that occurred between the world wars. During his lifetime he saw stores of knowledge double.