Leopard: Time Machine and the Knowledge Navigator

I thought I'd offer up a few belated thoughts on Apple's next cat, Leopard which I'll be posting in segments rather than one large post. Let's get started with Time Machine and iChat.

Perhaps the most talked about new feature is Apple's useful implementation of 3-D as an easy to use and very attractive interface for the most mundane of tasks, file back-up. They call it Time Machine and it does indeed look to be an important feature of the next version of Mac OS. It's no surprise that Apple could transform back-up and file restoration into a task that is not only reliable but one which users will easily understand. I have little doubt that Time Machine will prove to be quite a hit.

But there were other forms of time travel happening when Steve took the stage on August 7, 2006. Back in 1987 Apple produced a 5 minute video, the Knowledge Navigator. Twenty years later, in 2007, we'll be seeing many elements of the Apple Knowledge Navigator come into daily use. Les Posen of the excellent CyberPsych Blog also makes this connection and describes the Knowledge Navigator very well:

Set in 2010, it shows a Berkeley professor coming home, and opening his diary on his desk.

But this is no ordinary diary. It's an Apple Navigator.

As he opens, it we hear the familiar Apple bong so beloved of Mac Plus owners.

Soon enough an electronic "valet" speaks to him, reminding him of appointments and missed phone calls, which becomes a running joke.

We learn that the good professor needs to give a lecture that afternoon to students on deforestation in South America, in particular Brazil, and so calls up some statistics.

But he's also reminded of a female colleague doing similar research in Africa on dwindling forests, and just like you might in iChat, is connected with her and a videoconference commences, with each comparing their own research findings.

Welcome to the future. With Leopard we'll see Apple take a big step towards intuitive and effortless collaboration and sharing. Take a good look at that video, the device and the technology. The device has a built in web cam which should look familiar if you've seen any of the new Macs. With the new version of iChat users will be able to share screens, iPhoto albums, and Keynote presentations. I'd guess that is just the next step in turning iChat into a cornerstone of the sharing process and there will likely be much more about sharing in other Leopard technologies. As a consultant to small businesses, non-profits, and home users I'm always searching for new ways for users to share and I'm thrilled to see that it's going to get better.

As much as I enjoy the power and convenience of email, I often rely on iChat for immediate, real-time communication and file sharing for work and play. In fact, just moments ago I helped a client with her FileMaker Pro database via iChat and last week I collaborated on a logo revision via iChat. I can easily envision a time when iChat and it's expanding abilities becomes a key element in education and business. For many that time has already arrived.

Links of interest:
In October 2003 Jon Udell revisited the Knowledge Navigator.
The Knowledge Navigator entry at Wikipedia.
You can view the video here or here.

Coming up next time, Apple Mail and iCal.

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, Leopard, iChat, Time Machine, Apple Navigator, Knowledge Navigator