Apple Computer in 1997 (1987)

This video from 1987 imagines the Apple Computer company of the year 1997, (tongue planted firmly in cheek). I can't decide if the iPsychiatrist or the R2D2-style hologram is my favorite Apple innovation through 1997.

See also:
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (1988)
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Project 2000 - Apple Computer (1988)

Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (1988)

Of all the paleo-futuristic concept videos we've looked at in the past four months, the future depicted in Grey Flannel Navigator may have been the most accurate. Granted, it's the safest but computer networking and ordering pizza through your computer was pretty visionary for 1988. The assumption that we need an image of a person as an interface seems to be where most of these videos fall down.

Below are all three parts of the 1988 Apple concept video Grey Flannel Navigator. Thanks again to Keith C. for the video.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

See also:
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 1, 1988)
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 2, 1988)
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 3, 1988)
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (1993)

Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 3, 1988)

Part 3 of Apple's 1988 paleo-future concept video Grey Flannel Navigator gives us much needed closure about that business plan.

See also:
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 1, 1988)
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 2, 1988)
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (1993)

Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 2, 1988)

Today we have part 2 of Apple's 1988 paleo-futuristic concept video, Grey Flannel Navigator. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion.

See also:
Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 1, 1988)
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (1993)

Apple's Grey Flannel Navigator (Part 1, 1988)

The video above is part 1 of Apple's futuristic concept video Grey Flannel Navigator. It was produced in 1988 and has a tone similar to other videos we've looked at by Apple and AT&T. There are three parts to this rarely seen video, so stay tuned. Many thanks to Keith C. for this great paleo-future find.

See also:
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (1993)

Power Macintosh Ad: Fighting Spacemen (1994)

Continuing our series of ads from the 1994 Power Macintosh campaign, this one involves fighting spacemen of the (paleo)future.

See also:
Power Macintosh Ad: This Future Belongs to the Past (1994)
Jet Packs and Macs (1994)

Project 2000 - Apple Computer (1988)

In 1987 Apple Computer held a competition called Project 2000. Apple asked student research teams to submit papers detailing what the computing technology of the year 2000 would look like. In early 1988 Steve Wozniak, Alvin Toffler and Ray Bradbury, among others, sat on the judge's panel. The winning team was from the University of Illinois with their paper called Tablet: The Personal Computer of the Year 2000. Below is an excerpt and various images from the paper. You can read the paper in its entirety here.


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.




There is supposedly a 12-minute video called "Project 2000" floating around. I have yet to see it but would love to see if it's in the same vein as Apple's Knowledge Navigator from 1987.

See also:
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (1993)

Jet Packs and Macs (1994)

Like the teaser ad for the new Power Macintosh in 1994, this ad reappropriates images of the paleo-future.



See also:
Power Macintosh Ad: This Future Belongs to the Past (1994)

Power Macintosh Ad: This future belongs to the past (1994)

In 1994 Apple Computer ran a series of ads that were essentially reflections on the paleo-future. The idea was that with the Power Macintosh the real future had arrived.

See also:
Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)

Apple's Knowledge Navigator (1987)

In 1987 Apple Computer produced a concept video for a hypothetical product called the Knowledge Navigator.



Having a normal conversation with your computer as though you were conversing with a friend seems to be the most paleo-futuristic aspect of this video. The inefficiency of such a system certainly raises questions about the user interfaces of tomorrow.

(Inefficiency aside, there's no doubt that I'd make my virtual butler wear a bowtie too.)

See also:
The Road Ahead: Future Homes (1995)
Picturephone as the perpetual technology of the future
AT&T "You Will" (1993)
Face-to-Face Telephones on the Way (New York Times, 1968)