The new information-appliance PCs will not only be user-friendly, they’ll also come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Think of them as the gadgets on “Star Trek.” On the Enterprise, information appliances were everywhere. Handheld models diagnosed sick aliens and damaged transporters. There were computers that crew members talked into, typed into and sent messages back and forth over.
Predictor: Arnst, Catherine
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for BusinessWeek, Catherine Arnst, Richard Brandt, Paul Eng and Peter Burrows provide a view of the likely Internet appliance of the future. They write: ”What will be the gadget we use to harness that flood of digitized traffic – the phone calls, movies, TV shows, databases, online magazines and shopping services coming into our homes and offices? Before the all-digital lifestyle takes root, we’ll need some kind of device – or a series of them – to manage information flow. Think of it as an information appliance – a device that will be as commonplace in a few years as the washing machine or VCR is now. Information appliances will instantly make the connections to a world of digitized entertainment, communications and data – on the superhighway or over the airwaves … How will the PC evolve into the information appliance? First, by continuing to incorporate the best features of other computers … The new information-appliance PCs will not only be user-friendly, they’ll also come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Think of them as the gadgets on ‘Star Trek.’ On the Enterprise, information appliances were everywhere. Handheld models diagnosed sick aliens and damaged transporters. There were computers that crew members talked into, typed into and sent messages back and forth over.”
Date of prediction: November 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Internet Appliances
Name of publication: BusinessWeek
Title, headline, chapter name: The Information Appliance
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 98
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Taylor, Kellen L.