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AT&T's 1993 predictions were remarkably accurate

By Rain Noe - September 18, 2009

in Object Culture

Predictions about the future, when viewed from the future, are often hilariously wrong, and nowhere is this more true than with product design. One need look no further than "futuristic" Hollywood movies/TV programs of yore or old Popular Science covers to see that would-be future designers can do no more than take the form factors of their day, alter the shape slightly and add some then-impossible technological function. But as David Pogue twitters, "Remember the AT&T 'You Will' ads from 1993? Amazing how many of these came true..." and man--he's right!

They got only a couple things wrong, most notably the huge-ass CRT displays (like I said, the form factors of the day) but the rest of it is remarkably accurate. Well, except for the terminology: What the heck is a "fax?" via gizmodo

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AT&T's 1993 predictions were remarkably accurate

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