http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZb0avfQme8

Does anyone remember this series of ads from the early '90s? I think I remember seeing a few back then, but I didn't really remember all of what was featured until I watched this video on Youtube.

The commercials are basically AT&t's vision of the future, and the technologies we would be using in years to come. And although some of the stuff featured hasn't arrived yet, it's actually kind of amazing how much of this stuff we use, in some form, today. All in all, its a pretty accurate look at the future, even if none of us could've imagined this stuff back in 1993.

wow, that is quite amazing of how many of those things we are utilizing these days. I wonder how long people have been thinking those things up, before actually creating them.

I actually do remember those, now that you mention it. It's actually one of the more accurate visions of "the future" compared to most, which tend to overexaggerate. Alot of what we have now existed in very rough, primitive form in 1993 or even earlier, so they weren't really predicting the ideas themselves. Just the way in which they would work.

The difference is, alot of that stuff was communal. We have great tech now, but aside from the Internet, it's mostly personal. That's the part that would throw people off if they time travelled.

What would today be looked at from a 1993 perspective? Maybe 2001?

I actually do remember those, now that you mention it. It's actually one of the more accurate visions of "the future" compared to most, which tend to overexaggerate. Alot of what we have now existed in very rough, primitive form in 1993 or even earlier, so they weren't really predicting the ideas themselves. Just the way in which they would work.

The difference is, alot of that stuff was communal. We have great tech now, but aside from the Internet, it's mostly personal. That's the part that would throw people off if they time travelled.

What would today be looked at from a 1993 perspective? Maybe 2001?



Yeah, back then I think that the idea of future technology was mostly communal. Like being able to talk to your baby visually from a phone booth, or pay a toll without stopping your car, whereas most things today are more personal. Like having a cell phone with internet access, or being able to store thousands of songs in your pocket for example. I really do think that something like the iPhone would've thrown most of us for a loop back in 1993.

From a 1993 perspective, I think most people would be very surprised to see the state of technology today. I'm sure that most of us would've expected the things in this commercial to be in place by say, 2003 or so. So i'm sure your average person in 1993(were they to come to August 2007) would not expect us to be just a couple of months away from 2008 based on the way things are right now. Maybe 2000 or 2001 at the latest.

Wow pretty accurate, of course I'm sure that stuff that we have easily available now was in early planning stages in 1993 so that's probably where their base ideas come from for this commercial. Tablet PCs, GPS in there for one.

The only one that's offbase/unlikely to become reality now is the tucking someone in from a phonebooth. ;D

^Yeah, that one probably won't ever happen. The thing is now I could actually imagine it happening, but back then it would've been really hard to believe.

I do agree with Brian though. I'm sure that AT&T was probably developing most of these technologies back in '93 and probably before, which is why I wasn't really shocked that they predicted most of this stuff. I just thought it was cool to think that none of us would've ever believed that these things could ever happen, and now, pretty much all of it is possible.

^Yeah, that one probably won't ever happen. The thing is now I could actually imagine it happening, but back then it would've been really hard to believe.

I do agree with Brian though. I'm sure that AT&T was probably developing most of these technologies back in '93 and probably before, which is why I wasn't really shocked that they predicted most of this stuff. I just thought it was cool to think that none of us would've ever believed that these things could ever happen, and now, pretty much all of it is possible.

Yeah, most things go on behind the scenes before we ever know about them. I mean the Internet existed in a developmental way or across college campuses since 1969! I think most of the AT&T stuff could've at least been imaginable after the mid '80s once computers, CDs and early digital tech began surfacing.

Yeah, most things go on behind the scenes before we ever know about them. I mean the Internet existed in a developmental way or across college campuses since 1969! I think most of the AT&T stuff could've at least been imaginable after the mid '80s once computers, CDs and early digital tech began surfacing.



Yeah, I almost find it hard to believe it took the internet so long to catch on. Personal computers were pretty big in the '80s, not to point were everyone had one like today, but still alot of people had PC's then, especially by the late '80s. I mean, I know that before the World Wide Web was created in 1991, the net was mostly Usenet type groups and things like that, but still i'm sure that most people would have thought the idea of communicating with people all over the world on there computers would be cool.

I guess I just don't understand why it took so many years for the internet to be marketed to the masses and not just computer nerds.