Second Writing Assignment

A cord of Firewood










Vannevar Bush's Differential Analyzer




My view on the internet sides with Vannevar Bush. I feel that the advancement in technology is more helpful than lotheful, as seen by Nathanial Hawthorne.

I feel that the internet has greatly consolidated physical things into smaller digital forms which allows for easier storage. Bush felt similar in that keeping up with all sorts of physical records and having to constantly update them (sec. 2 par. 1). Having a digital record, such as can be found on the internet, allows for easy updating without the hassle of having to update physical records. One such example is Wikipedia. It is a large database that is able to be altered in great numbers, but nothing is ever wasted or physically thrown away. Another example is this blog, I am able to go back and edit my prior posts as much as I want and nothing is wasted.

Hawthorne did realize the efficency the stove had over the fireplace, much the same as Vannevar Bush had about the Memex. Hawthorne said "His yearly allowance of wood, according to the terms of his settlement, was no less than sixty cords. Almost an annual forest was converted from oak logs into ashes..." (par. 5) This was his realization that although the stove lacked much in his mind, it was still an efficient way of doing things. Bush said "A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility."(sec. 6, par 4) He knew it would be an efficient way of sorting and remembering things with a high efficiency.

In Hawthorne's quote "...it was he who devoured London and Moscow, and many another famous city, and who loves to riot through our own dark forests, and sweep across our prairies, and to whose ravenous maw, it is said..."(par. 2). This description is similar to what the internet has become, although not quite as frowned upon as Hawthorne did of the stove. Blogs are the same way, they are very popular now and can be found from people all around the world.