[The theme of this collection is gadget/tech concepts that we feel "current technology", but has existed for a long time. Of course, this list is definitely not complete. If you know anything that matches the theme but I have missed, please suggest them in the comments. The main reason they are more widespread today is because of falling prices and advancements in processor speed and storage, making it more feasible. But if companies coming up with current products based on these old concepts act as though they inventted the concept, please send them a reminder.]
Driverless bus [1976]
Apples' first Iphone? [Apple's secret Iphone design, 1983]
http://mashable.com/2011/12/30/apple-iphone-1983/
Seiko UC 2000 Wrist computer [Early smart watch, 1984]
https://www.inexhibit.com/case-studies/seiko-uc-2000-1984-the-dawn-of-wearable-computers/
Epson RC 50 [Early Smartwatch with touchscreen, 1984]
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4IlGIryo8KU
IBM Simon [First Smart Mobile phone. 1993 Also the first smart mobile phone with touchscreen]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Simon
Dont miss the Full view of the UI(big file)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/IBM_SImon_in_charging_station.png
EO personal communicator/Penpoint OS 1991 (its 50 mins long, but its
just superb considering its from 1991, so please make time to watch.
you can skip first 8.5 mins if you are in a hurry):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9140399149118885327
The dev tool demoed in 1994 is not less awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh1yCHn8hvE
The "Mother of all demos" from 1968 . [more than just the mouse, it was the data management ideas that I liked. We could probably call it one of the first crude "mashups"]
http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html
First hand writing recognition was partly mechanical , Nov 1914 (yes, 1914)
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1117184.pdf
Voder - The First Electronic Voice Synthesizer 1939
Aspen Movie Map 1978 was street view 30+ years before Google introduced street view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf6LkqgXPMU
Etaks Car Navigation System 1985 was a navigation system that does notuse satellite aid, and instead relies on dead reckoning.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3047828/who-needs-gps-the-forgotten-story-of-etaks-amazing-1985-car-navigation-system
First Watch calculator 1977 (dont miss the advanced features)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-01
First digital camera 1975
http://www.retrothing.com/2008/05/kodaks-first-di.html
17000 mile journey on a modified cycle with a solar powered laptop back in 1983
http://hackaday.com/2009/09/18/vintage-video-computing-across-america/
First HDTV (monochrome, 819 lines) came in 1949!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/819_line
Patent of iPod like device back in 1979
http://www.kanekramer.com/html/development.htm
Multi-touch, Multi-pointer UI, And some concepts like magic lenses which are not yet in today's world! 1982 - 1997 . These need not necessarily be invented by the people who demonstrate them in the video.
http://www.billbuxton.com/buxtonIRGVideos.html
Xerox Alto :[Desktop , 1973]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto
Screenshots:
http://toastytech.com/guis/alto.html
Xerox Star:[Desktop, 1982, dont miss screenshots .. search on youtube too]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star
Screenshots:
http://toastytech.com/guis/star.html
ATT Viewtron [an older try at Internet/www 1981]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6DVBPmo4Co
Digital Desk by Pierre Wellner, 1991. Some of the "Envisionment" simulations were also implemented in the EuroParc during this project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lCetZ_57g
Touch Screen, [1982]
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JAcZpQCLb4E
And now let us take a detour from the digital world
P1 electric car by Porsche 1898
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089994_first-ever-porsche-turns-out-to-be-an-electric-car
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/01/porsche-first-car-electric/
Disclaimer :
these were a bunch of stuff I came across by searching on the internet. I
have not researched thoroughly about them, nor have I confirmed these.
Though these info have been got from somewhat reliable sources, I do not
give any kind of assurance that the data/information is correct. I only
added items here which I got impressed by the age of the claim and
quality/geekery.
