Steve “Woz” Wozniak thinks the company he co-founded (that would be Apple) will still be around in 2075, as will Google and Facebook, he said in discussing next weekend’s Silicon Valley Comic Con (SVCC), “The Future of Humanity: Where Will We Be in 2075?” The three-day conference, which Wozniak helped create last year, explores the intersection of pop culture and technology.
“Apple will be around a long time, like IBM (which was founded in 1911),” Wozniak said in an interview with USA Today. “Look at Apple’s cash ($246.1 billion, as of the end of its last fiscal quarter). It can invest in anything. It would be ridiculous to not expect them to be around (in 2075). The same goes for Google and Facebook.”
In a 2013 Irish Times article, Stephen Prentice, a vice-president and fellow at the Gartner research group who describes his speciality as “the evolving relationship between technology, business and society” also listed Apple and Google on his extremely brief list of technology companies likely to survive the next wave of technological change, which he predicts will come around 2030. He said Apple is in a strong position not just because of its ecosystem, but because it has a smart chief executive – “[Tim] Cook executes better than just about anyone” – a designer in Jonathan Ive “who knows how to make desirable devices”, and the adoration of its customers, “a passion that transcends logic.”
As for the looming next wave that’s going to rise in about 2030, Prentice said that will be all about bio-organics, with a focus on areas like the development of artificial DNA, the exploitation of the human genome, and DNA replication. He says that some of the “disruptors” to watch are 3D printing, makers who tinker an code on their own or in groups, crowdsourced funding, robotics/thinking machines, and the “Internet of Things.”
Think of this: in 2075, we’ll theoretically (though not likely) have macOS 69, iOS 69, tvOS 69 and watchOS 62. What might they be like?
Anyway, my ATW compadre, Marty Edwards, just hopes we’ll see the revamped Mac Pros by then.
As for the weird looking logo graphic accompanying this article, that’s what stocklogos.com‘s Ivan Raszl thinks the Apple logo could evolve into by 2042 due to a trend toward simplicity. Hmmmm. The problem with this is that the futuristic logo looks nothing like an Apple.
