What were some great ideas that were too early for their time?

Question

I'm curious what were some of the more innovative ideas that were just too early (e.g. the tech was impossible or too expensive) but would have been viable in the future or are today.

mikewarot · Accepted Answer

Capability based security[1], which Multics had.
Not to be confused with app permissions, it's a very different concept.
It'll probably start being adopted in about 5 more years.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security

thagerty · Answer

Tesla's understanding of electricity. Most would agree he was way ahead of Edison, who used his position to suppress the advancement of Tesla's ideas. Eventually, Tesla was able to demonstrate alternating current on a large scale, but he had so much more to contribute that has not yet seen the light of day.

tomaszs · Answer

- Virtual reality - seems to be too early the second time now - Moon landing - it was just a showcase what will we achieve now - Light bulbs in ancient Egypt

jleyank · Answer

The Newton. Computer vision recognition. 5th generation (inference) AI. Protein folding.

orangecat · Answer

Google Wave was basically Slack.