Face to Face Phone Calls (1957)

In this ad from the March, 1957 issue of Scientific American we see John Q. Businessman making a "face to face" telephone call. The ad declares that thanks to the Hughes Tonotron and other products from the Hughes Aircraft Company people will soon see "on the wall television, electronic control of factory production, and countless other marvels."

Thanks to Brad Fidler for this scan.

Previously on Paleofuture:

• Governor Knight and the Videophone (1955)
• The Future is Now (1955)
• Bell Telephone Labs Picturephone (1956)
• Television Phone Unveiled (1955)
• Disney's Magic Highway, U.S.A. (1958)
• One World Job Market (1959)

Comments

[Jeff]

This is interesting in that the visionary could predict a television-like communication experience, but still left the archaic rotary dial and wired-receiver in tact. Perhaps this was on purpose to achieve some degree of familiarity with his audience. A man sitting in front of a screen would simply have portrayed a man watching television.

This is why paleo-future is so intriguing. Not only does it identify predictions made years ago, it allows analysis of the context in which the prediction was made.

Great post. Thanks!

[Johnson]

This is great stuff. I came across this funny clip about people asking what the internet is in 1994? It is weird I was reading this and watching this the same day.

[Sian]

The videophone is just one of those things.

It took us until we had the technology to achieve it to realize that it's something that nobody really wants.