Knowledge Navigator
The Knowledge Navigator is a fictional computer that then- Apple - CEO John Sculley in 1987 for the first time in his book Odyssey described. It was Sculley's vision of the personal computer for the 21st century.
The concept of the Knowledge Navigator was inspired by the work of Vannevar Bush ( Memex ) and Alan Kay . Precisely predicting the changes caused by the World Wide Web , the Knowledge Navigator would allow its users to communicate around the globe. It would be linked to hypertextual information databases that allow one idea to be linked with other ideas (Sculley cites Ted Nelson for reference) and use artificial intelligence or intelligent agents to actively search for information. This personal computer will contain the technologies and interface design of the successors to the Unix and Macintosh systems of that time.
In various speeches Sculley described the five key technologies on which the Knowledge Navigator should be based:
- Advanced communication technology that connects computers and databases around the world and provides users with broader information paths.
- Real-time animations in 3D that allow complex models to be visualized.
- Improved database technologies as the key to comprehensive information systems.
- Hypermedia , the combination of text, graphics, sound and moving images that intuitively shows future computer users the way through huge collections of information.
- Artificial intelligence as a key technology. Artificial intelligence allows the use of agents that recognize personal preferences of the user as well as suggest strategies and thus contribute to increasing productivity.
According to Sculley, the Knowledge Navigator would use large, high-resolution flat screens on which text, graphics and computer-generated animation would be displayed. HiFi sound, synthetic speech and speech recognition would also be available. Sculley did not provide a specific form for the Knowledge Navigator; The Knowledge Navigator could take the form of a desktop computer , be a PDA or even be integrated into the clothing of its user. The concept of the Knowledge Navigator was presented in 1987 in a video entitled The Knowledge Navigator: Technologies to Get Us There and Beyond and introduced to the general public in a short promotional film.
Some of Sculley's ideas for the Knowledge Navigator were implemented in the Newton , Apple's first PDA.