Two utopian devices memex and Xanadu, put forward by Vannevar Bush and the so-called "hypertext guru" Ted Nelson respectively, can be compared and contrasted in many ways. Both devices, seemingly extraordinary for their times can be seen as prophetic today, in the age of cyberspace. Thus they are of great importance and should be studied in depth.
-they both intend to store information
-the range of material they intend to store is similar
-they are both based on the idea of linking material, thus can be said to foresee hyperlink
-their senses of linearity are different from each other
-whereas Xanadu is a software system, Bush's detailed description of the outlook of the memex consisted of a desk, slanting translucent screens, a keyboard and sets of buttons and levers.
In order to be able to understand whether the two devices are actually similar or not, we should look at their qualities separately.
| memex | Xanadu |
|---|---|
| not editable | editable |
| individual--not everyone can see what you do with it | communal use of the internet--you can see other trails--privacy is not expected |
| you own your notes in a physical sense | "transclusion"--links you back to the original source |
| get things into memex by scanning them--you have to take a picture of it to be able to put it on memex | get things into Xanadu by typing |