Nicholas Negroponte was Right (Most of the time)

I tripped across a Nicholas Negroponte's 1984 presentation at TED.com. For the time, (24 years ago!) it's amazing how well he's predicted the future. (image from Wikipedia).

Using laserdiscs and color slides (no Powerpoint back then) he forshadows technologies that we take for granted today, including touch screens, contextual search, and video-conferencing.

To put things into perspective, in 1984 the music scene was dominated by bands like Culture Club, Wham! and a guy by the name of Bruce Springsteen, who had just released "Born in the USA".

It was also the birth year of the Apple MAC.

The 22 minute video is a fascinating historical "glimpse forward to today". His accuracy is uncanny.

Of particular interest to me was his quote;

Good education has got to be good entertainment

At the end of his talk he cites an example of a small child, considered developmentally disabled, who taught himself to read - solely because there was personal value in it for him. (Watch the video, you'll understand).

Something to think about the next time you ask someone to write a user manual.