Examples abound, from the Futurist Manifesto of 1909 to the conservative Contract With America in 1994 and the slightly more recent Cluetrain Manifesto.

FORBES: Hack Three: Publish a Manifesto

Complete with a doctrine that gives a cheeky wink to the Futurist manifesto - "We are enslaved to the Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades our privacy and forces us to ear Fast Foods" -- the organization today has spread to 80 countries, from Austria to Venezuela, with over 85, 000 members.

CNN: Skip the fast food and go slow

So forgive me if I'm being small-minded, but Bruce Tognazzini's speculative manifesto about an Apple iWatch fails to make a convincing futurist case for the imagined device -- despite whipping up a whirlwind of attention.

ENGADGET: Editorial: iWatch app speculation is filler, not killer