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Vannevar Bush - Augmentation as Paradigm in Information Technology Research and Developmentby Lily Díaz To augment means to increase or to enlarge, especially in size. In information technology the augmentation paradigm refers to the potential of technology to increase the scope and reach of human agency. This paradigm finds expression in the work of the north american scientist Vannevar Bush (1890-1974). Vannevar Bush was scientific advisor to the president of the United States during the Second World war. He was also the head of the Manhattan project whose success culminated with the development of the atomic bomb. After the war, Bush's effort was instrumental in the creation of the National Science Foundation, the main body for scientific R&D in the United States. Vannevar Bush, however, is mostly known for his seminal essay, As We May Think, written for the Atlantic Monthly in 1945. Maths, Calculation and Computingby Teemu Leinonen The pre-history of computing is closely related to the history of mathematics and calculation. To solve more complex operations, such as addition and subtraction of large numbers humans have always used external objects. Groups of objects have been calculated by adding them inside a space drawn to the sand or by putting them in a sack. After the stones and sacks, the next step in the history of computing was the innovation of counting tables, which are, not only to formalize the counting method; but also contain the concept of positional notation. This means that objects are located in matrices, which gives new possibilities for calculations. The same method is still the core of modern computers. The first big name in the history of computing is said to be a Tashkent cleric, mathematician and professor in Baghdad. Muhammad Ibn Musa Al'Khowarizmi (780- about 850) developed the concept of a written process to be followed to achieve some goal. This method is called now a days after its inventor: algorithm. Later on, the use of algorithms in computer programs made computers "reasoning" and logic machines - in a way a machine to help humans in decision making process. However, all the way from Al'Khowarizmi days, from 1300 AD to the late 1960's computers were mainly designed and used for calculating, statistics and outputting and opening cryptology. Engelbart's Demo, a medium in the makingby Teemu Leinonen
In 1968 in California Douglas C. Engelbart and his group working in the Augmentation Research Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California gave a public demonstration of a computer system (OnLine system) they had been developing since the early 1960's. Engelbart's group of scientist thought that by demonstrating their system in real use, the audience could get a better picture of it, than by just reading an article about it. In some writings Engelbart's and his group demo has been said to be "the mother of all demos". In the demo Engelbart presented for the first time a working version of the mouse and hypertext functionalities, that were synchronized working via computer network and word processing with such features as editing, cutting and pasting and drag and dropping text elements. Engelbart's demo can be seen to be a turning point in the conception of computers not only as a tool for computing, but also as a tools to develop and share creative work. Engelbart's main thesis (which was not said openly in the presentation but demonstrated through the functionality of their computer system) was that computers can be used as an external memory and processor that could help humans to create and share their creativity with others - of being "media machine".
LinksCollected by Teemu Leinonen & Andrea Botero
Stanford University's MouseSite
The first computer programmers John Von Neumann Old system simulators Amiga computers Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man - Marshal MacLuhand |
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