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How was Vannevar Bush’s Memex supposed to store and retrieve information?

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Vannevar Bush proposed the Memex in his 1945 article, "As We May Think," as an advanced microfilm machine designed to store and retrieve information.

The device was intended to function as an indexed, archival system that allowed users to cross-reference and access vast amounts of data efficiently. By utilizing microfilm technology, the Memex aimed to mimic the associative nature of the human mind, enabling users to create and follow links between documents. This conceptual machine is widely recognized today as a precursor to the development of hypertext and the World Wide Web.1