Envision your computer in 10 or 20 years looking like one of today’s office cubicles, except the desktop and walls are capable of displaying computer-generated images. And the walls are touch-sensitive. And the system can sense your position in space so you can use gestures to communicate with it … When it’s working, you’ll be able to access your personal information space wherever you are, from computer environments similar to your office and as commonplace as pay phones. There’ll be a wide variety of computers to work with. You’ll feel as if your information is always with you. And, except for security, the boundaries of where your computer ends and the universe of networked information begins will be wonderfully blurred.
Predictor: Tognazzini, Bruce
Prediction, in context:For a 1995 article for Wired magazine, David Weinberger interviews software designer Bruce Tognazzini. Weinberger quotes Tognazzini projecting his idea of the future computer interface: ”Envision your computer in 10 or 20 years looking like one of today’s office cubicles, except the desktop and walls are capable of displaying computer-generated images. And the walls are touch-sensitive. And the system can sense your position in space so you can use gestures to communicate with it. How useful is a mouse in this environment? If you can use the same headset you already wear for your radio-telephone to dictate commands and short passages of text, how often will you be tempted to whip out the old keyboard? … computers will provide a space in which you interact with small, smart objects that have their own capabilities and behaviors … The only time the physical location of your computer and your information will mean anything will be when the hardware fails and you have to fix it or grab someone else’s. When it’s working, you’ll be able to access your personal information space wherever you are, from computer environments similar to your office and as commonplace as pay phones. There’ll be a wide variety of computers to work with. You’ll feel as if your information is always with you. And, except for security, the boundaries of where your computer ends and the universe of networked information begins will be wonderfully blurred.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Internet Appliances
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: In Your Interface: Bruce Tognazzini Says the Interface He Designed for Apple Has Become an Obstacle to the Next Stage of the Computer Revolution
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.09/tognazzini_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney