July 1995 marked the 50th anniversary of "As We May Think," the seminal Atlantic Monthly article by Vannevar Bush that described his idea of a "Memex," a device that is now considered the intellectual prototype for hypertext information systems such as the Internet.

After describing the mechanics of the device, Bush reflected on its implications. The Memex was more than a microfilm filing system. Its real importance was the way it could link information sources together and save a trail of connections: "The process of tying two items together is the important thing."

In celebration of the anniversary, Massachusetts Institute of Technology organized the conference, "As We May Think," in October 1995. To accompany a presentation by Dynamic Diagrams’ co-founder Paul Kahn, we created an interactive movie about the Memex device.

While it was tempting to focus on the Memex’s creative integration of microfilm and dry photography, we decided to the best way to present the device was to show it as it would be used.

By manipulating a three dimensional computer model of the Memex with animation software, we could show levers being moved, indexing keys being pressed, and screens presenting content. We turned these animated sequences into a compelling movie by recreating the short scenario that Bush describes in his article: a researcher looks up a topic in an encyclopedia, cross-references it to a history book, adds notes, and saves the trail.

Additional details on the components of the Memex were built into a point-and-click interface that a user can access before or after viewing the movie.