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Look who's talking: The birth of the video phone
The videophone was always the obvious next step in the evolution of the telephone. It's a concept that has spent decades in development. And when it finally arrived, it looked a bit different than had always been imagined. Follow along, as we explore the bumpy road that led to those FaceTime and Google Hangout sessions you enjoy on your device of choice today.
50 years ago today, the public got its first taste of video calls
It seemed like the inevitable future at the time, we're sure. On April 20th in 1964, Bell Telephone showed off the Mod 1 Picturephone -- a precursor to the Skype and Hangouts video calls that have become a standard but under-utilized feature of modern communications. The demonstration was part of the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, visitors were able to step into a booth and have a conversation with a person thousands of miles away in Disneyland. But instead of just talking into a handset, users sat in front of an oblong device that housed both a video screen and a camera. The service delivered a 30 frame-per-second black-and-white feed to wowed Fair-goers. A few months later, in June of the same year, AT&T took the service commercial.
Wireless picturephone prototypes headed to history museum
History buffs and cellphone aficionados, take note: a couple of wireless picturephone prototypes (circa 1993) have recently been acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and should soon be available for all to gawk at. Reportedly, the institution joined with Daniel A. Henderson to get ahold of the two devices and related documentation, which were built to take advantage of a picture / video receiving technology known as Intellect. Notably, this ain't Mr. Henderson's first time donating wares with varying levels of historical significance, as he's also responsible for the Casio Z7000 and Atari Portfolio that are on display. Interested in checkin' the duo out for yourself? Go on and circle summer 2008 on your calender.
