Knowledge Navigator

The Knowledge Navigator is a fictional computer that the former Apple CEO John Sculley in 1987 first described in his book Odyssey. He was Sculley 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. Precise changes through the World Wide Web predictively, the Knowledge Navigator would allow its users to communicate around the globe. He would be associated with hypertext information databases, the linking of an idea with other ideas allowed ( Sculley cited Ted Nelson as a reference ) and use artificial intelligence or intelligent agents to actively search for information. This personal computer would include the technologies and interface design of the successor to the former Unix and Macintosh systems.

Sculley described in various speeches, the five key technologies that should the Knowledge Navigator is based on:

After Sculley the Knowledge Navigator would use large, high-resolution flat-panel displays, where text, graphics and computer-generated animations were shown. Also, would be present hi-fi sound, synthetic speech and voice recognition. Sculley did not provide a specific form for the Knowledge Navigator; so could the Knowledge Navigator in the form of a desktop computer, a PDA, or even be integrated into the clothing of its user. The concept of the Knowledge Navigator was founded in 1987 in a video titled The Knowledge Navigator: presented Technologies to Get Us There and Beyond and presented in a short promotional film to the general public.

Some of Sculley ideas for the Knowledge Navigator were in Newton, Apple's first PDA, realized.

Footnotes

• Computer