Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Tomorrow's TV-Phone (1956)

The November 23, 1956 Pasadena Star-News (Pasadena, CA) ran this picture of the "TV-Phone" of the future. If I'm not mistaken, that looks like Dick Clark on the screen.


The phone of the future will fit in the palm of the hand and enable a caller to hear and see the other party in color and 3-D. That's the concept of Harold S. Osborne, retired chief engineer of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., as pictured and described in the September issue of Mechanix Illustrated Magazine. On the other side of the pocket watch-sized videophone are buttons which Osborne says the caller of tomorrow will push to talk to anyone anywhere on earth. The device may be carried in a pocket or purse, or worn as a locket, Osborne says.

See also:
Ristos (1979)
Wristwatch of the Future as Crimefighter (1979)
Picturephone as the perpetual technology of the future
Closer Than We Think! (1958-1963)

8 comments:

  1. Actually looks a bit like an iPhone.

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  2. 3D screens are already here, such as the Phillips WowVX. I'd imagine the first consumer applications will be gadgets as the screens are small and the content mostly proprietary and thus easier to make compatible with the 3D display tech.

    So yeah, completely accurate.

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  3. this is actually a pretty insightful futurecast. the one missing element is how you hear the caller; unless there's a bluetooth earpiece, the caller's presumably on speaker and able to be heard by anyone around you.

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  4. You know what this blog needs? It needs a poll for each entry so we losers can vote on whether the prophecy was whacko, missed opportunity, spot on, sort of right or yet to come.

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  5. Kaleberg, that sounds like a great idea. I even like the names you've created for the various options. Sadly, I don't have the time or know-how to make that happen. Know any programmers that work for free?

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  6. Matt,

    I know with Livejournal there is a poll option, using there HTML. I would assume that blogger has an option for that somewhere. I agree, polls (based on Kaleberg's comment) are a great idea.

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  7. Based on their HTML, dangit.

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