Everyone has a favorite “concept car.” Whether it’s the ’54 Firebird, ’64 Stiletto, ’80 Epcot or ’88 Sunraycer, these “flights of imagination” all have one thing in common: they weren’t for real.

General Motors had no intention of selling these cars, or cars that were close in form or function. They were largely “concepts” detached from reality or economics. It’s even debatable if they have advanced the art and science of producing cars in ways measurable by subsequent sales. In fact, over the years, while GM was busy creating concept cars, its Asian counterparts were working overtime selling cars that real customers here and elsewhere actually preferred to purchase. After losing over $50 billion in the last three years alone and its debt closing on junk rating, analysts are now wondering if the once-mighty GM will be able to avoid bankruptcy at all.

Microsoft, Nokia e più o meno ogni altra azienda con la quale Apple si trova in concorrenza produce dei concept, una visione del futuro, un prodotto “che potremmo realizzare però ci limitiamo a sognare“. Un prodotto che non ha alcun limite o compromesso — essendo solamente immaginato — e che per questo sulla carta sembra fantastico:

Concept products are like essays, musings in 3D. They are incomplete promises. Shipping products, by contrast, are brutally honest deliveries. You get what’s delivered. They live and die by their own design constraints. To the extent they are successful, they do advance the art and science of design and manufacturing by exposing the balance between fantasy and capability.