Ahead of their time: Nine technologies that came early

.. so sorry about the dual posts regarding item #4.

I disagree with number 4! Mac HyperCard my butt. "AmigaVision" on the Commodore Amiga computer platform was the real precursor to the HTTP universe that evolved into the internet. With programmable, clickable "links" within an AmigaVision project, you could launch other pages, animations within the page you were on, trigger video controls of external video devices, start audio files playing, interactively allow clients or customers to engage in a technical experience that seemed customized specifically for them (with a little foresight and programming, that is), and a wide assortment of other "nifty" events too numerous to go into here. It was, just like the rest of these techs - too good, too soon - and was never adopted by the world. Of course, emerging right at the end of the parent company's life cycle didn't help much. As a staunch proponent of the Amiga computing platform, I feel that credit should be given where credit is most certainly due - AmigaVision ruled! It helped me win many contracts back then when I had my video production company and enabled me to help my clients into new and innovative methods of marketing their products on and off of the sales floor. Holy smokes.. I'm feelin' old right about now.

WRONG! - I contend that it was "AmigaVision" that was the actual first precursor to the internet as we know it. "hyper" links and clickable areas on the screen which launched either other pages or animations or audio files, etc.

A principal reason DAT 'didn't take off' was that the "copy protection" was built into the retail price of the blank tapes. (The idea being that the revenue being foregone by 'fair use home taping' would be recovered out of the profit from blank-tape sales!)Whether this carried over, by default or intent, to the 8mm backup-tape-media market at the time is not known to me, but I believe that even today, 8mm tapes are less costly than the (non-data-grade) audio tapes...And then there were the costs involved with helical-scan drives for automobile stereos - hard limits in those days on how small, let alone how cheap-to-market, you could make the units. (Leave out for the moment contemporary Japanese pricing and model-introduction strategies!)...Personally, I still think DASH had a somewhat better chance of being integrated into an automobile stereo without maintenance problems... ;-}

I'm still an avid LiveJournal user, I'm not gonna lie.Also, it's still hugely popular in Russia, apparently.

Tucker did not introduct disk brakes to the automotive industry.

It's because the record companies behind the RIAA facade kept them from being allowed in the US via political BS so that by the time they were available, it was passe.

I still have my Newton, too—a MessagePad 100 (which i bought on clearance for $180, around 1995). I didn't have much trouble with the handwriting recognition. It learned to read my writing; i learned to break nasty habits like letting letters touch. I still prefer its method of writing words where you want them to appear, over the Palm's letter area weirdness.

I still have my Newton, as well as a US Robotics Pilot (pre Palm), my Palm III . . . The trouble with being an early adopter as well as a geek is that sometimes I end up with technolgical curiosities for my future Museum of Dead Tech.Thanks for the article.