Microsoft's Predictions for the Year 2019 (2009)

I still remember very well the original announcement. It was in March 2009, and it was accompanied by a very interesting video. Microsoft had decided to share with the public its predictions about technology for the next ten years, and in the process imagined a future full of transparent screens, touch interfaces, mixed reality, ultra-compact mobile devices, real-time translations, and more. The world Microsoft envisioned for 2019 ended up being overly optimistic, but there are some isolated elements in the video that are already among us...

Yesterday it was the turn of a true master among science fiction writers. Today, it's the turn of one of the companies that (for better or worse) helped define the present and future of computing. History tells us that Microsoft is not a particularly good company at making predictions. Steve Ballmer anticipating the "failure" of the iPhone is one of the most compelling examples, but if there's something Redmond has taught us, it's that it changes its mind in record time.

The Microsoft Kin lasted less than two months on the market, after investing two years and a billion dollars. Windows 8 and the first generation of Surface tablets were going to change the historical operating system forever, but in July 2013 they cost more than 32 billion dollars, and it began making multiple adjustments. In September of that year, Microsoft announced it would pay $7 billion for Nokia's mobile division, and in July 2015 it let it die. With such a record, can we take its predictions seriously? If we want to answer that, we need to review this video from 2009:

The Year 2019, According to Microsoft

One of the first things this short screams is "mixed reality". Of course, we don't see anyone wearing a HoloLens-style helmet (which is from 2015), but general tactile interaction, gesture recognition, manipulation of virtual objects, and the display of information on different surfaces leave no doubt. One thing Redmond got right is the widespread use of flat graphical interfaces, the partial return to the stylus, real-time translation, and the application of circular controls. This was manifested through Windows 10, Skype's Translator feature, and products like the Surface Studio computer, which received its second edition last October.

Microsoft also made room for voice recognition in this short, and today it is occupied by Cortana, Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, among others. Now... personally, I want to highlight that the company imagined a post-smartphone future. Mobile devices are just foldable glass modules as big as credit cards. This idea has been suggested by different representatives every time they were asked about a hypothetical "Surface Phone", and it's clear there is an intention to do something along those lines. Finally, smart paper and the cup with real-time reports not only don't exist, but feel out of place. In summary, if you decide to pay $3,500 for the Surface Studio 2, you can have a small portion of what Microsoft predicted for 2019. As for the rest, we have to keep waiting.