Modern computer design? Well, not really...

In the past few days, I was exposed to this quite striking photo of what claims to be RAND Corporation's vision of the contemporary computer in 2004, looking back 50 years ago from 1954. Intrigued by the eerie presence of a massive steering wheel as part of the massive hardware footprint (although it might have very well been a very physical way of scrolling through pages) I made some quick research. Unfortunately, I have to conclude that the said picture is a hoax, a digital composition made out of the control panel from a nuclear submarine alongside an old printer, as explained by a fellow blogger.

Too bad actually, a steering wheel desktop would definitely be an innovative design! Who knows, maybe Apple will include its iPod click wheel in the next iMac revision?