The 2022 tech Bill Gates predicted 27 years ago - from Google Maps to smartphones

dailystar.co.uk:

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, though, the future was just around the corner, as one recently-unearthed video from 1995 shows.The video shows a keynote speech from Bill Gates called "The Road Ahead", where he predicted with frightening accuracy what tech might look like in 2005.He discusses technology that, like Netflix, would let people watch their favourite shows on demand without needing to wait around for a TV schedule.

Gates also discussed the idea of digital convergence, where everything from books and art to movies and documents would move to computers.

He thought this would lead to a 'wallet PC' or a 'small device you carry around' with a screen—i.e. a smartphone, which would be released by 2005. (The iPhone was launched in 2007)Gates said of the 'wallet PC': "It's capable of really replacing everything that you carry with you and more."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." Gates also talks about how people would use the wallet PC for contactless payments, which is now known as the NFC (near-field communication) feature on smartphones, as well as something similar to Google Maps.Perhaps the most spooky prediction was for remotely working from home using the Internet.

Gates said: "You're no longer tied down to the particular schedule where that show comes out on… anything you want to do, you're in control,"This means that 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 like the video we play.