The assigned readings have made some valid points and assertions.  Vannevar Bush has come to the conclusion that the human experience will significantly improve if researchers and scientists had better ways of reviewing and analyzing previous and current data.  The problem was that the publication and extension of data is exceeding the ability to make sense of all the new information.  Bush describes tools such as the “memex,” that he believed would be useful in storing and recovering data.           

It was rather interesting to see how the times have changed since this article was written and how Bush’s “memex” evolved into the devices we have today.  Fortunately, we have been able to successfully make knowledge accessible to those who wish to seek it.  Scientists, researchers and historians now have countless numbers of places where they can find information.  Library archives, encyclopedias, scholarly journal and research articles are all avenues that lead to scientific research.  The internet has also made it quite easy to access, save and organize the overwhelming information available to the public.

             “Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework” and “Man-Computer Symbiosis” both make the assumption that human abilities are enhanced greatly by technology.  Douglas Engelbart refers to the individual as a “system,” which includes the modern technology that improves the human mind.   No intellectual can be successful without the tools that aid him in his work.  The scientist is nothing without his laboratory and the researcher is nothing without access to past scholarly work.  As these three authors predicted, with the improvement of technology comes the extension of knowledge. 

One of the most interesting aspects of these readings is the author’s ability to see the potential of human capacity when partnered with technology.  Both  Engelbart and J.C.R Licklider’s views, in regards to the capabilities of computers, differed with the popular views of that time.  In the early days of computers, their purpose was to do large computations that humans weren’t able to do.  Yet, Licklider was able to see computers go beyond its arithmetic means and serve as a “symbiotic partner.”