The only thing they got wrong? Their role in it!
source:
time.blogs.com...
Here's a fascinating montage of 1993 AT&T ads predicting a technological future..
Video source:
www.youtube.com...
It's really interesting how their vision of the future included so many things that actually did come to pass. Except AT&T brought us none of
them.
The video file itself came on a CD-ROM I got in 1993 called "Newsweek Interactive". It was a CD-ROM based interactive multimedia experience; a
relic of a time just as computers matured but just before the web. It was supposed to be the first issue of a CD-based edition of the magazine. Some
of the technologies they showcase came about a couple years later (e.g. EZ-Pass) and some are only now becoming commonplace (e.g. In-dash navigational
systems).
One of my favorite parts is right at the beginning, when the kid reading a book over the network is staring at a screen image of the actual book
with a video feed pointed at it. Keep in mind, when these ads were made, Web browsers were still a year or two away.
So next time you see an Ad don't laugh at their visions ...it might become true for all you know! 
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Sorry but I am not impressed. It takes a few years for state of the art technology to go from laboratories to the market place. Just because
software like web browsers was not available at the local store in 1993, it does not mean that it was not in existence. There are all sorts of
prototypes that are in existance right now that would blow our minds, but we will not see those inventions for years to come.
There are many things that can delay an invention from hitting the market. First, one must take care of the business end of things. Even if the
prototype was developed by a major corporation and not some tinkerer in his garage, the major corporation will have to assemble marketing teams, do
marketing research, etc. Someone will need to lobby within the corporation to fund the project of bringing the prototype to market. Next, one must
develop a way of mass producing the invention, which may not be trivial. One may have to get regulatory organizations like ISO, the FDA, etc. to
approve the product, which can take months. Also, for innovative products, like the internet was 15 years ago, one must get other companies to get on
board with the invention. For example, let us say you invented the television 150 years ago and got the funding together to mass produce and market
TV's. The TV's would be useless unless other company's were broadcasting shows people would watch, and other company's were willing to pay to
advertise on the TV shows. The web, just did not require software and hardware to develop, but required companies to get on board to provide content
and services over the web so people would use it
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well i work for AT&T and we have quiet a few things to be released in 2007... including IPTV and other stuff.... but what they do in the AT&T Labs god
knows.
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Interesting read, but why is this in the Ancient & Lost Civilizations forum??
"How AT & T predicted the future in 1993!" That's only a 13 year time span. Not what I would call ancient.
[edit on 12/12/2006 by Mechanic 32]
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