1993-94 AT&T Ads: The future is alot like they planned..

I remember these ads from when I was in high school. I remember thinking that the technology required to make these things happen may never actually exist.


But with the invention of the internet, and nanotech, we have not only achieved most of the things featured in these "Have you ever....You Will" ad campaigns, but we have SURPASSED most of the tecnology.

Like the ad that says: "Have you ever sent a fax...from the beach?".

Well, email has almost completly replaced the fax.

or another: "Have you ever tucked in your child from a pay phone?"

Well....no....we dont really have alot of payphones anymore!!

So here are the ads, compiled into one youtube video.

Enjoy and discuss!!

Video Link, if video does not play here

I forgot about these ads. Its almost scary how accurate they turned out to be. I remember how far fetched they seemed at the time.

s+f

Very nice find.

Reminds me of an interactive show at Universal Studios that was created in the 90's, based on the terminator films.

It has a little film that plays before the show, it’s a “commercial” from Sky Net and it shows a girl being tucked in by a robot while her father talks to her on something that looks just like the webcams we have today.


[edit on 12-3-2010 by litmuspaper]

Wow, I had forgotten about these. Very cool!

I believe all but two have successfully been implemented or at least been made possible in some way or another.

The "groceries paid for all at once" hasn't happened, IMO, not because we couldn't do it, but because of social evolution and practical issues with people making pricing mistakes and what-not. And the "doing business in a language we don't understand" is not quite at the level they portray here (although it is possible on a lesser level).

Really, the only "prophecy" that was wrong was the claim that AT&T brought us any of it!


S&F

Wonderful find indeed.
Take into account most of the technology we use now has been developed for years, but are commercially/economically viable now.
When i was in school we went on a school trip to Madrid's SIMO (IT and new technologies fair) around 1992-93, i remember an exhibition about videoconferences where you could talk with people in either Barcelona or Paris (people from the company who was doing the exhibition of course). This may seem trivial now, but back then i was amazed, more so when one of the helpful attendants told me the technology was workable since the late 70's-early 80's. I still blame that moment for the birth of my actual geeky self.

This is kind of like what my boss was telling me. He said back in the 50's or so someone came to his school and said "In the future you will paint with a spray can." That at the time sounded impossible but lo and behold we use spray paint all the time. It really is neat how this stuff turns out. Wish I was around when someone said "In the future Microsoft will rule the world so invest now." lol

The PC dog hasn't happened either...

But at least we have Russian bots that can turn your PC into a zombie slave to spam/scam your neighboors...you will!

Funny how every "in the future..." depiction includes some sort of robo-butler or servant AI who can comprehend complex and abstract orders and carry them with absolute efficiency but speaks in a Mac II voice synth monotone

Well, not being American and not having AT&T as an available service provider, I have never seen these ads, but I'll be very interested to see how accurate they are when I get home, where I have speakers.

I'll make a more informed comment then. Just posting this to submit to the thread for later

Nice find,

A week are two ago, I was talking to a man who's in his 60's now about technology and how he remembered the beginning of television over here.

I remember the first cell phone, my commodore 64, etc.

I wonder what whe will have 20 years from now ?

reply to post by Limton


To answer that question, lookup the Sony Ps2 commercial, portraying the Ps10!!

Have you ever used a nanotech mobile phone? You will.

93, 94?

All those technologies existed then. What didn't exist was the backbone network to service and deliver the technologies over a wide area.

I kind of envy the innocence of the generation that has always know televisions and computers.

I fear though that said technology has rendered many just a little more stupid because it now takes less brain effort to find information out.

It's as if people have all these great information resources, but no idea what to do with the information they are resourcing other than to regurgitate it to someone else who can actually use it.

sad how our technology is finally forming us.

I love nanotechnology, here's another nice video about that

THE NEXT BIG THING (only smaller)

It will be hard to keep up with technology soon...

reply to post by djusdjus


I think it's a little easier to find info as well.

I mean, I used to go to the library. I would have to go through the encyclopedias. No, theres google.


Dictionary=spell checker.

and so forth..