MovieChat Forums > Star Cops (1987) Discussion > 'Box' vs. Apple's 'Knowledge Navigator'

'Box' vs. Apple's 'Knowledge Navigator'

posted 18 years ago by fast_fierce_and_funny
2 replies | jump to latest

Hmmmmmm...

I'm wondering which came first: Apple's "Knowledge Navigator" or "Box" from Star Cops.

"Knowledge Navigator" is a video that Apple produced to give people their idea of the future of computing. Even today, a lot of the concepts still hold up pretty well. You can find a copy of the video on this page:

http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/2005/08/where_are_the_i.html

According to the IMDb, the air date for the pilot of Star Cops ("An Instinct for Murder") was 6th July, 1987.

Does anyone happen to know when the "Knowledge Navigator" video was produced? I'm wondering if someone from Apple might possibly have seen Star Cops and had some of the ideas make their way into the KN video. Admittedly, there's a possibility that the Apple video influenced Star Cops.

However, with the series premiering in July, and with all the pre-production and production work needed to produce a TV series, I don't feel this is a strong possibility.

Any insights?

[–] trinovanti 17 years ago

Talking computers appeared in the original Star Trek, twemty years before Star Cops. Trek also had two kinds of handheld computer -- the tricorder and the clipboard style tablet computers.

I think that's a more likely source of inspiration for Apple. Around that time, they used 'Star Trek' as an internal project codename. I think that should tell you where their sympathies lie.

[–] knight_sentinel 11 years ago

If you watch William Shatner's "TekWar" films and later series you'll see Jake's partner Syd listening to music on a device that looks like an iPod, it's called a Pod on the series. "Tekwar" was also written before any of the Apple products came out.

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