memex means A proposed computer system, implemented with electromechanical controls and microfilm equipment, that would permit a researcher to follow and annotate topics of interest, analogous to later hypertext technologies. It carries an Arena rating of 1323, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, memex ranks #1,822 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,044 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,622 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #2,946 of 17,151 for The Improbable.
Why “memex” is a great word
A hypothetical electromechanical device for storing and cross-referencing books and records through associative trails, considered a conceptual forerunner of hypertext. Coined by Vannevar Bush in 1945 in his article 'As We May Think,' its name is a blend of 'memory' and 'index.' Unlike 'hypertext,' which names the realized digital architecture of linked nodes, or 'zettelkasten,' which describes a deliberate method of interlinked notes, the memex remains a magnificent, mechanical ghost—a blueprint. It is the imagined whirr of microfilm readers, the satisfying click of levers selecting a trail, and the glow of a translucent screen in a private study; the poignant dream of order, perfectly filed, just before the chaotic flood of the digital age washed it into history.
Etymology
Blend of memory + index, coined by Vannevar Bush in his article As We May Think (1945) in The Atlantic Monthly.
noun
- A proposed computer system, implemented with electromechanical controls and microfilm equipment, that would permit a researcher to follow and annotate topics of interest, analogous to later hypertext technologies.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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