wordbit

The iPad in 1988

In 1988 students from the University of Illinois were tasked with imagining the computer of the year 2000. What they came up with was a tablet computer that bears a striking resemblance to the iPad. From the report:

Our machine will have the same dimensions as a standard notebook. It will look like an 8″x11″ monolith from the movie 2001, and be reminiscent of the Dynabook. This rectangular slab will weigh but a few pounds, and have no buttons or knobs to play with. The front surface will be a touch-sensitive display screen and will blink to life upon touching two corners.

You can read the full report here.

This report is yet more proof that great ideas do not spontaneously strike like lightening. Rather, a “revolutionary” product is the culmination of decades of research, the overcoming of technological hurdles, and the courage to strike out from the pack. In this case, the tablet PC is a manifestation of a cultural perception of what such a device would look like. It is the moment when the fantastical becomes real. For example, the Star Trek communicator influencing the design of the flip-phone. Oh wait - flip phones are so 20th century.

(Source: paleofuture.com)

Occupy Hastings Street

The world’s top 1 percent of wealthy people are being discriminated against! Let’s band together and fight for the rights of wealthy citizens without whose economic and philanthropic contributions, the world will be a poorer place.

The fact of the matter is, not everybody on this planet can live in a mansion, drive a Ferrari, and eat caviar every night. The world’s resources are finite and such a lavish lifestyle is unsustainable. So why begrudge the rich for being stewards of our limited resources? Due to their hard work or inheritance, these people have been given the arduous task of managing vast financial empires that reach into every aspect of our lives. Do the sheep begrudge the shepherds? No! Nor should those who live lives that are nasty, brutish and short discriminate out of feelings of fear and envy.

This is a call for the wealthy to band together and occupy the poorest neighbourhoods in Vancouver. We plan for a march through the Downtown Eastside and a peaceful occupation of tent cities where the non-tax-paying homeless languish with idle hands.

If you are in the top 1 percent, contact me to discuss where to send your financial contribution to this worthy cause! With your considerable fund-raising clout, we can be sure to raise more than enough to generate a marketing campaign and spark a new social movement to counter the rampant discrimination souring the reputation of the world’s most noble citizens.

Remembering the man who changed everything

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. What is there to say about a visionary who changed the way we interact with our computers, communicate, listen to music, or even appreciate the beauty of typeface. There is so much to say that has been said more eloquently by others. I am greatly saddened, as are so many others, by the loss of such a powerhouse in the tech world.

Yet, although he has left us with many cool toys like iMacs, iPhones, and iPads, it is his inspiration which is a far greater legacy. Steve was uncompromising, sometimes to a fault, in living each day to the fullest. He followed his heart, his passion, his gut. He was crazy enough to believe he could change the world, and so he did. The way he owned the public stage with such exuberance and enthusiasm for his creations was infectious. He was, unapologetically and wholeheartedly, doing what he loved to do.

Goodbye Steve, and thank you. Thanks for showing us that following your dreams is more important than all the money or fame or gadgets in the world.

A revolution nobody cares about

So, yesterday the iPhone 4S was announced and the general sentiment was that it was a huge letdown. Even the media jumped on the bandwagon with news reports on CBC about how disappointing the whole deal was. Most sane observers will tell you the truth of it though: people get hung up on a name. An iPhone 4S sounds like a spec bump whereas an iPhone 5 sounds like a major upgrade, despite the fact that the new guts of the 4S are pretty impressive.

But one revolution that no-one seems to care about is the Siri voice assistant. The functional AI and incredible voice recognition technology that will open up a whole new world for the visually impaired. Bigger screens and thinner profiles are for kids who want a new toy so that it looks like their new phone is better than last year’s model. But this bleeding-edge technology heralds a new age of AI assistance and usability for the disabled. Why aren’t more people making a big deal about this?

Here’s a mock-up of where I think this technology could go in the very-near future:

Now this doesn’t seem so far-fetched, does it? After all, they’ve been doing it on Star Trek for over 20 years now.