Big deal.
Polish sci-fi writer Stanisław Lem in 1955 (in The Magellanic Cloud) predicted the Internet, then in 1961 (in Return from the Stars) he predicted "touch-enabled electronic books connected to the mother library" (exactly what Jobs was describing).
Gene Roddenberry presented a lot of tablet-like devices in the 1966 Star Trek series.
American computer scientist Alan Key worked on a portable computer in 1968, the Dynabook, which resembles a tablet computer (he also talked about wireless communication).
American film director and writer Stanley Kubrick included tablet like devices in his 1969 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, they also entailed wireless communication.
In the late 1970's when multi-touch was being invented people were already talking about actually working on portable touch-enabled devices.
What Steve Jobs was talking about was nothing new. It has been a concept that was around for many, many years. It has already been worked on.
Apple, and especially Steve Jobs, are getting too much credit, as usual.
Everything you just said is completely irrelevant.NO!
1 - Computer existed even before the famous Nazarene, aka Jesus, mechanical computers are computers nevertheless.
2 - Ask Gene Roddenberry who he was reading?
3 - Alan Kay worked at Apple. And Steve did say - Apple, not Steve thinks.
4 - Arthur C. Clarke wrote the book that Kubrick adapted, Go read some of his books.
Apple, and especially Steve Jobs, are getting are getting prized for ( as with any creative people ) actually bringing to life what others have thought of.
John Ford did not invented the automobile, but he was a genius.
Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison are all genius and both work was based on others people ideas.
Classic European composers orchestrated popular songs and were hailed genius.
Give Apple credit.
Everything you just said is completely irrelevant.
The point of this article by MacRumors is that "Steve Jobs was a visionary as he envisaged the iPad in 1983", and I'm arguing against that. He stated nothing that was novel, groundbreaking or otherworldly.
Besides, Alan Kay worked at Apple for a short period of time and he worked on his tablet device nearly a decade before Apple was established.
And there's a huge piece at Oatmeal that disagrees with your Tesla & Edison argument.
OH!And there's a huge piece at Oatmeal that disagrees with your Tesla & Edison argument.
I envision a mind-controlled PC, for the record.
Everybody and their brother had a vision of a computer in a book back then...
Mostly because of Alan Kay and his Dynabook concept from 1968:
YouTube: video
Mostly because of Alan Kay and his Dynabook concept from 1968:
Indeed. But the headline reads: envisioned the iPad in 1983. Not successfully executed on his vision over 2 decades later. If anything, it would have been more surprising if Jobs did not share this common vision: so what is the point of the article, really?
Jobs had taste. Jobs had timing. Jobs knew how to work markets. I have no problem to give him that. I just dont see the need to sing praise over what is essentially nothing praise-worthy.
That's amazing that he had the general idea for a touchscreen computer that early in history.
Although, from the video, I got the impression that it was supposed to be aimed specifically at the children's market, what with its simple controls.
He may not have been anticipating the ability for people to do serious work on that type of device.
And where do I buy his device? Its one thing to imagine something... quite another to make it a reality.
the only problem is that other computer scientists were surely talking about this well before 1983. There are PARC projects that had ideas like this in the 70's. You don't think Steve got wind of everyone's ideas in the tech industry? Just because he is talking about something doesn't mean he thought of it, or "envisioned" it.
Couldn't a "computer in a book" technically be a laptop also?
How do we know he meant a tablet?
(I didn't read the full thing, only what was on this front page. If he went into further detail about a touch screen and such then forget what I'm saying now. But as far as a "wireless computer in a book" - wouldn't that technically be a laptop? Or a "notebook computer?")
I guess people will have to come out of the woodwork to reveal that just out of the womb - his first words were tablet computing
Seriously - what's next - Steve will get credit for the first airplane, radio, tv, automobile, man?
ETA: It's almost as if someone is trying to make a case as to why Bill Gates/Microsoft shouldn't get any credit for the first series of tablets back in 2000. Success or failure - they were tangible products. And came long before the iPad.
I guess people will have to come out of the woodwork to reveal that just out of the womb - his first words were tablet computing
Seriously - what's next - Steve will get credit for the first airplane, radio, tv, automobile, man?
ETA: It's almost as if someone is trying to make a case as to why Bill Gates/Microsoft shouldn't get any credit for the first series of tablets back in 2000. Success or failure - they were tangible products. And came long before the iPad.
Envisioned the iPad indeed!
Apple was looking for the iPad since then, you cannot deny that!
And the iPad is not even IT!
irrelevant?
My argument that ideas brew ( listen to Miles Davis Bitches Brew ) throughout generations before materializing is irrelevant?
I did provide proofs!
- Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Galileo, Da Vinci, Picaso, any classical European composer
Creativity is a stream of consciousness, the hypocrisy of selfMade men distorts what being a genius means, it means NOT that you did it all!
Even Einstein pivotal theory of relativity was based on elevators!
Alan Kay idea did come out of thin air ( even if so - prize the air! )?
NO, he did was influenced by something/others ideas ( almost all of the current science fiction themes were already written about by ancient writers of the current India ). That is creativity, no man is an island and will never be.
Accept that and give Apple credit.
OH!
Lets be serious!
Electricity was actually put in use by the Persians and ancient Egyptians.
Sorry about the constant editing, i am making a meal, and i need no distraction to screw up.
Star Trek came out in 1966 but is that also the date for those imaginary tablets? I was trying to find that out as well.
...and how long before that did they envision a tablet computer in a science fiction film/show?
Again, that's completely irrelevant. You just don't seem to get it, do you?
You're partially proving my point with your arguments.
All I am saying is Steve Jobs did not state anything novel in 1983, and this article is trying to make it sound like he was a "visionary" and a "genius" because of that statement. And I'm simply saying that it is bullocks, since the concept he mentioned was around for decades. You don't need to flood with me with "examples" of how certain things were inspired by others, those are truisms.