Prophecies Across Time: How Jobs Predicted the Future of Digital Software and Payments Decades in Advance?

Long before the advent of smartphones, online streaming, and the App Store, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had already envisioned the future. In 1983, he proposed the concept of "software broadcasting station," accurately depicting the prototypes of today's digital software downloads, free trials, and online payments. These insights not only became a reference for contemporary technological development but also shaped the fundamental logic of technology consumption in later generations.

Steve Jobs on the App Store in 1983 pic.twitter.com/vapXUwW2di

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Inspired by music radio: Software should also be "try before you buy".

Steve Jobs observed that consumers usually listen to music through the radio before deciding to purchase records. He believed that the software world should have a similar mechanism that allows users to "try before they buy." He called it the "software radio station (software radio station)":

This is a brand new way for users to experience content remotely before making a purchase.

He believes that such a design not only enhances consumer trust but also addresses the pain point of extreme reliance on packaging and marketing in software purchases, which lacked actual experience.

Rejecting Physical Constraints: A Revolution from Tape to Telephone Lines

In that era, software distribution still relied on tapes, packaging boxes, and logistics shipping. Jobs described this complex supply chain in detail, from the digital data of 0s and 1s being encoded onto polyester tapes, to being boxed, transported, shelved, and sold, until users installed and used it. He bluntly stated, "This is a long road."

He envisions that future software should be able to transmit directly through telephone lines, transferring from one computer to another, completely eliminating the cost and time of physical media. This concept has already become commonplace today through network downloads and streaming.

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The predecessor of Freemium: Free trials will dominate consumer decision-making.

"Give you a 30-second free trial", "Provide five application preview images", "Let you play for a day before deciding". Jobs proposed the possibility of these trial models back in the day. He believed that:

As long as the transmission technology breaks through, the software can mimic the logic of music sampling: use it first, then pay.

The concept of "letting users experience first, and then deciding whether to pay" is precisely the prototype of the "free-to-value freemium" business model in today's application stores like App Store(, which features free downloads, trial periods, and in-app purchases. This move not only lowers the threshold for users to try out but also opens up greater sales opportunities for software vendors, creating opportunities for long-tail revenue.

One-line card number done: The payment experience must also be seamless.

In addition to envisioning the transmission and experience of software, Jobs more foresightedly proposed: "If you like it, just enter your Visa card number, and you can own it." Such a statement was almost unbelievable at that time, yet it is strikingly similar to today's online payments, in-app purchases, and subscription models.

He realized that simplifying the consumption process is the key to truly popularizing digital content. It is this integration of the three steps of "experience, decision-making, and payment" that forms the core of today's digital business model.

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It is not about predicting future technology, but rather about behavior patterns.

Jobs did not only predict the future from a technological perspective, but rather from human behavior and consumer psychology, depicting the evolution direction of the entire industry. His envisioned "software radio station" coincides with today’s platforms like App Store, Steam, Netflix, and Spotify.

As he said, the meaning of technology has never been just about invention, but about redefining how people access and use information. This speech from 1983 was not just a display of foresight, but a blueprint of the industry drawn decades in advance.

This article "Prophecy Across Time: How Jobs Predicted the Future of Digital Software and Payments Decades in Advance?" first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.