By Request: Future tech

A while ago Subscriber Dan wrote:

I wish Apple could provide just-in-time information and requested information from the iPhone audibly perhaps via a Bluetooth ear bud. An audible approach could be less distracting in a number of environments.

Forgive me if you’ve heard this story before, but at Macworld Expo several years ago I saw Bill Atkinson, the creator of HyperCard, give a presentation about the future of computer interfaces, and he mentioned something quite similar to what Dan is describing. It has stuck with me because it seems like a logical way to interact with an artificial assistant without the weirdness of wearing special glasses or contacts.

If you’ve seen the movie “Her”—it’s very good, by the way—you’ve seen the extreme of this concept play out. Without spoiling what happens in the movie, “Her” is set in a world where people wear earpieces that connect to a digital assistant.…