FIVE years ago, Apple's chief executive Mr John Sculley put forward a vision of things to come; a five-minute video called the Knowledge Navigator. It simulated the possible working environment of the future.
A typical morning's work that involved reviewing schedules, making contact with colleagues, researching, retrieving and manipulating data from remote databases, printing, and even fielding phone messages, was all conducted in 21st century-style - without lifting a finger.
This was due to a slim electronic pad, The Knowledge Navigator, that acted as the desktop of the future.
The device was host to voice recognition and video-conferencing capabilities and even a personal animated ''assistant''.
That was Mr Scully's 1987 vision of the future. His Knowledge Navigator epitomised the perfect synthesis of computer and secretary; of a multi-function, intuitive and responsive electronic assistant.
The video was received by industry pundits with a mixture of awe and ridicule, it was considered too Californian; too much of a pipe dream, yet it was both revolutionary and challenging.