Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 6, 1993)

Part 6 of the 1993 video Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future features shopping for a wedding dress with an electronic mannequin. I imagine that of all the clothing purchases one can possibly make online, buying a wedding dress would be the absolute last choice.


See also:
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 1, 1993)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 2, 1993)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 3, 1993)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 4, 1993)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 5, 1993)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stupid 90's...

Anonymous said...

You know what I love about the future? Technology changes, but fashion stays just as ugly as ever.

M. Alice said...

It's amazing how prescient this video is. That's EXACTLY how everything works now! Bravo, AT&T Futurists!

Anonymous said...

Pay attention to what they are really 'selling' as future: The whole spot focus on the Morph effect for the bridal service... That's actually interesting. It was used firstly on Willow, in 88, then widely spread after Michael Jackson (John Landis) used it in the Black or White video in 91.
That's it: You had this unknown thing called Internet, and the cool, futuristic thing that was the Morph effect. How do we represent the future? Well, just put Morph everywhere...

Anonymous said...

Its funny that no matter how futuristic the context is, how updated the gizmos are and the attention to detail - the hairstyles never change. God forbid someone makes a "future" film or video and hires a hairdresser to do something!

Calion said...

Alright, it's actually no fair making fun of this yet, seeing as it's beyond what our current technology is capable of.

Nick Teeple said...

damnit matt, how about you go get on BoingBoing again.

AT&T just installed two huge switching cabinets in my backyard for their snazzy new digital package, I'll bet I won't even get a discount if I switch from Time Warner

Ravuya said...

I like how she's still finishing her sentence and it's already got the doll dressed up the way she wants.

Anonymous said...

video #2 "we have adequate city housing." haha a future in which cities have adequate city housing is more absurd that everything else combined.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I remember those HUGE shoulder pads in women's suits! That was the "Dynasty" look!

Chris Furniss said...

you'd be surprised, a lot of people buy wedding dresses online.

Chris said...

"That's EXACTLY how everything works now!"

And it's the best of all possible worlds too! Remember the days when we had to LEAVE our homes and offices and set foot in the icky outside world and deal with people face to face? Thank god that age of barbarity is now behind us!

henryb24 said...

Your comments are on target to a point.

Yes the effect is crude by today's standards. Yes the dialog is awfully saccharine. Yes the dress design is not haut couture.

BUT to be fair, the idea of remote shopping via computer networking was portrayed in Connections before Amazon or EBay hit the marketplace.

Also, just a few years ago the Army announced it was using computerized models to design new uniforms in cyberspace rather than on mannequins.

And as one comment said, lots of people buy wedding dresses online today.

Incidentally, this was the segment of the program that was most picked up by commercial TV networks. I guess everybody loves a bride.

beckyzoole said...

Actually, a lot of people buy wedding dresses online, especially if they want something other than the high-priced traditional gowns.

Last year my daughter bought her wedding dress online (it was available in smaller sizes then), and her bridesmaids were given the URL for the same site to order identical dresses in different colors.

This year I have bought my wedding dress online, and will wear it this June.