In the world of business, the difference between a tech company and a cultural referent is rooted in ability imagine the future decades ago of which technology allows its increase.
In 1987, under the direction of John Sculley, Apple introduced a concept that was a joke for many: el Knowledge Navigator.
This conceptual short film was not an announcement of a product to be sold, but rather a speculative design exercise. At a time when computers were full of monochromatic text and complex commands, Apple tried to project a world of touchscreens, virtual assistants, and instant global connectivity.
Analysis: 1987 vs. reality
What seems bleak to analysts and academics today is this accuracy of prophecy. The video is found in the narrative in September 2011. When we compare this exercise in imagination with the actual hits, the coincidence is surgical:
PUSH Touch interface (iPad): The video showed a high definition flat table where the user can find archives and maps with dedos. In 1987, the idea was to ignore the subject of science fiction; Today, the iPad is the standard for mobile computing.
Voice assistance (Siri): The protagonist interacts with a “digital agent” through natural language. With dark precision, Apple officially introduced it to Siri in October 2011, just a month after the fictional part of the video.
Ubiquitous Communication (FaceTime): The video shows smooth real-time video footage, a technology that required millions of satellite infrastructures in the 1980s and is now a daily feature of every iPhone.
Red Global: Although the web as we know it didn’t exist, the video predicted data-driven navigation with hyperlinks in keeping with the overall interconnectedness of the Internet era.
Persevere over risk
To the contemporary observer, this piece of corporate archeology proves it Apple’s result was no accident. It took 40 years to make a visual video of the route.
Society soon caught on Technology is a means, not an end. By first defining the user experience—how we want to interact with information—a company with strategic patience can hope that semiconductor development will allow the engineering department to solve the problem.
Now that Apple is entering the space with them Vision Pro and Private Artificial IntelligenceKnowledge Navigator remains a record of the impossibility of predicting the future in Cupertino’s top management: it is designed with a decade of anticipation in mind.
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