A journey through the magic of technology: from PCs to Apple Vision Pro

Very occasionally, a new technology arrives that works like magic. It does something profound by unlocking the door to future possibilities.

Very occasionally, a new technology arrives that works like magic

I am a technology enthusiast, and where possible, I have tried to stay slightly ahead of the curve by buying into or adopting new tech as it emerges.

This odyssey started with my first computer – an Amstrad 512 with dual floppy disc drives. It took the chore out of handwriting or typewriting (yes, I owned a typewriter). I could type, edit, save, and even use a mouse to move my cursor around the screen. And when I connected my dot matrix printer to it, I could print things I had written out!

Admittedly, it was a bit of a chore booting it up, getting to the word processing programme, and saving everything to a floppy disc – it did not have a hard drive, you see. But it was magic.

I knew the personal computer represented something monumental. Little did I know how enormous its impact would be.

I remember my first internet account. A CompuServe account enabled me to send emails (primarily to myself in those days, as there were so few of us with email addresses). I marvelled at how I could log on to NASA servers and download a picture through my Netscape browser. OK, it took half an hour to download, but who was quibbling over time? The internet, just wow. It was and remains magic. As an aside, someone explained TCP/IP to me, the underlying protocol of the internet. It is genuinely mind-blowing what it does and how it works. It is almost more credible to believe that fairies are making the internet happen than the truth. True magic.

I did not doubt that the internet would change everything, giving humanity access to knowledge in a way that had never been possible before.

I remember my first mobile phone. Untethering me from that cord that had been the fixed-line phone for so long. Through some unexplained technology, I could wander around and talk to people on what was then a massive brick. It was magic. Even more magical was the arrival of what many of us old-timers consider the best phone ever just a few years later: the Nokia 3110. How on earth did they fit so much into something so small? Magic.

Growing up in pre-mobile times, I was not alone in realising that untethered communication would change everything. No more cowering in the hallway, furtively talking to potential dates, arranging nights out and having to meet at a particular place at a specific time, wondering what happened if nobody turned up, and having no way to find out.

Then, I started working in digital finance and worked on one of the first implementations of online banking. The thought of using the internet to connect to a bank was mind-blowing. But when we did it and did it safely, it was pure magic.

It was simple stuff, just a statement and balance, barely more than you could get from an ATM printout, but I could see the endless possibilities. And at that moment, I knew that finance had been well and truly revolutionised.

Then, the Blackberry arrived. Email on your phone. I fell in love with this tiny device and its keyboard, which enabled me to work on the go. I was in the early days of an agency start-up, and it kept me close to my customers in a way that had not been possible before. I was able to be responsive in an almost magic way, and it helped create some competitive advantage.

Once again, the world of work had shifted.

My first iPhone, brought in Windsor House in Hong Kong (if you know, you know) in 2007, was another big moment for me. I could see that this tiny work-of-art device and its iOS had so much potential. What it did and how it worked was (for me) jaw-droppingly magical. I could see this was a pivotal moment in the evolution of technology. But I failed to fully comprehend just how intrinsic to our daily lives smartphones would be.

Google Glass had potential but failed to impress me, so I had to wait a few years for the arrival of ChatGPT to have another lightning-strike moment. I will not go into much detail about a subject covered so much. But ChatGPT is an incredible innovation and also works like magic.

It is another Apple product that brings me up to date. I have tried VR with Meta’s Oculus. It’s pretty good, but it is not magic. So, when the Vision Pro was launched, I was satisfied that I was not missing out on anything by not giving it a go. However, a friend who works in an Apple store persuaded me to book an appointment to have a demonstration. Now, Apple has perfected its retail spaces. They have also perfected their demonstrations. The Vision Pro was carried out reverentially on a tray. I could almost hear a fanfare as a glove-wearing sales assistant placed it in front of me. It was fitted to my head, and I was taken through the set-up, and then the magic started to ensue. My eyes moved the cursor, and a hand gesture made it click.

My first experience was one of its immersive videos taken at a kid’s birthday party. It was as if I was there. Next, I was transported to a ring-side seat on a basketball court, where the game was happening all around me. From there, the bottom of the ocean with sharks swimming around me. Then, there is a watering hole in Africa where elephants are cooling down in the water and mud. The quality is so incredible, and the experience is so visceral that I felt quite emotional. When you experience it, you cannot fail to see the future. The Vision Pro does so much. The iPhone 15 Pro takes immersive video that can be viewed through the Vision Pro. The iPhone 16 Pro may take immersive photos. We will find out this week. The ecosystem for immersion is starting to build out.

Security is handled with a retinal scan. So you can log in or pay for things simply by looking—the embedded finance dream.

The future may manifest itself differently from version one of the Vision Pro. Like the evolution of my early PC to a laptop, it’s the application of technology that will drive the next wave of innovation and make the technology more accessible. When you see an immersive video, you will understand that something huge is approaching.

So, what’s stopping you? Book an appointment, try the Vision Pro and tell me what you think. I want to know if you can glimpse the future, too.

About the author

Dave Wallace is a user experience and marketing professional who has spent the last 30 years helping financial services companies design, launch and evolve digital customer experiences.

He is a passionate customer advocate and champion and a successful entrepreneur. 

Follow him on X at @davejvwallace and connect with him on LinkedIn.