Found Footage: Knowledge Navigator concept from 1987

Remember back when Apple made concept videos of their future hardware instead of people making concepts for them? I actually don't, but that's just because I'm a young punk -- the last major official concept video I remember seeing was the old (and somewhat prescient) "You Will" commercials. But on the eve of what already seems like the year of the tablet, here's a retro look at a 1987 video made by Apple featuring the "Knowledge Navigator," a tablet-style computer with web access (sorry, "university network access" -- the web didn't exist yet) and personified software agents to search, field calls, and even run apps and simulations.

Good stuff -- I doubt we'll see video clips of bowtied male secretaries answering calls from the iPhone if the tablet should appear later this month, but here in this future time of 2010, it's fun to look back and see what we thought we'd be doing now: asking favors from Jill Gilbert, taking Kathy to the airport by 2, and ignoring calls from Mom.

[Via DF]
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