Bill Gates seemed to know what kind of technology was heading our way long before it came to fruition as resurfaced footage shows how he shared his scarily accurate predictions for the future of tech back in 1995.
As the co-founder of Microsoft, it's no surprise that Gates is clued up about all things tech, but the accuracy of his predictions prove even more impressive when considering the internet itself was only in its infancy at the time.
Gates shared his thoughts for the future in a keynote speech called 'The Road Ahead'; the same title given to his 1995 book in which he discussed technology such as the 'wallet PC'.
"It's capable of really replacing everything that you carry with you and more," he said at the time. "So getting messages, seeing the latest news, seeing different locations, keeping track of your schedule, keeping hundreds of pictures of your children stored there, all of those things are easily possible with this kind of technology."
The businessman also suggested people would be able to use their devices for contactless payments, as is common practise in transactions nowadays with Apple Pay or Google Pay. In the modern world it's easy to identify these features as those belonging to our current smartphones, and while mobiles had made an appearance at the time of Gates' speech they were nowhere near as advanced as they are today.
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His predictions did not stop with the features of 'wallet PCs', as he also described technology similar to services like Netflix, which would allow people to watch television shows on demand, without the need to follow a TV schedule.
The notion of widespread working from home, which may have seemed unimaginable for many prior to the coronavirus outbreak, was also presented in Gates' speech as he said 'mobile workers of all types will be able to collaborate together, call on expertise throughout the world, bring them up, and not just see their face but look at information...'.
In his book, an excerpt of which is cited by Ars Technica, Gates described how Wallet PCs would also be 'tell you where you are anyplace on the face of the Earth'.
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"GPS receivers… will be built into many wallet PCs. The wallet PC will connect you to the information highway while you travel a real highway and tell you where you are
"Its built-in speaker will be able to dictate directions to you to let you know that a freeway exit is coming up or that the next intersection has frequent accidents. It will monitor digital traffic reports and warn you that you’d better leave for the airport early or suggest an alternate route."
Flash forward to 2022 and it seems clear Gates is talking about technology such as Google Maps, which many of us would struggle to get around without. He certainly knew his stuff!
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Topics: Bill Gates, Technology, iPhone, Google
Emily Brown