The human mind "operates by association."
Memex was a conceptual machine that could store vast amounts
of information and enabled users to create information
trails consisting of links of related texts and illustrations stored
and used for future reference. Bush even conceptualized "memex" to
tame the then-unknown problem of information overload
by enhancing human memory (hence its name).
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. It is an enlarged intimate supplement
to his memory.
"Compression is important, however, when it comes to costs. The material for the microfilm Britannica would cost a nickel, and it could be mailed anywhere for a cent The entire material of the Britannica in reduced microfilm form would go on a sheet eight and one-half by eleven inches."