Modern interaction design principles have been born out of the iterations of past technologies like Xerox Star and Macintosh. In the demos for these technologies, many aspects could be seen when looking at the past design principles. Both the Xerox Star and Mac OS used very simple looking interfaces. They did not take in consideration detail and complicated design. Each of the technologies made sure it was easy to access information as well as utilize it.
To this day, Apple uses so many of its practices that were previously implemented in past designs. As seen in the first test of the Mac OS, many features shown inside the iteration are still inside the most recent gen of Mac OS. Things like cleaning up the desktop grid and copy pasting documents are huge features that are still utilized today. An additional feature Apple uses would be the menu taskbar. The menu bar on top of the screen is the most iconic aspect of the Mac OS design. In the File menu, you are able to open, duplicate, get info, and close applications. These options are still available to this day.
As we continue to change interface design, new mediums will be implemented. One day, website design would not longer be normal. With the rise of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, using your physical body to interact with the screen could be a potential future. As we continue envisioning the future, it is important to make sure that we learn from the past and make sure future iterations are meaningful design.
I think is cool that you mention the UI transfer from only on screen to today it might be shown on VR or a lot of new form of technology. Even they will release it on a different device, but UI designers can still learn from UI in the past.