2023-08-20 14:10:43
A newspaper clipping from the year 1953 accurately predicted what the telephones of the future would look like.
Several modern Android smartphones
There is exactly 70 ansthe president of a small telephone company accurately predicts what the phones of the future will look like. He did this during a speech in 1953, at a time when telephones were very different from what we know today: they required the use of dials to dial, the communication was not direct (it someone had to establish the connection via a switchboard) and, of course, only wealthy people might afford one.
This is why it is so surprising that Mark R. Sullivandirector of the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., made a prediction as accurate of what we know today as smartphones. The speech, reviewed and confirmed by the Snopes portal, gave some hints regarding the phones of the future, which have been fulfilled to the letter.
“In the future, there will be no escape from telephones”
Sullivan’s “prophecy” was published 70 years ago, but it’s only now beginning to gain attention because of how accurately it describes the mobile phones available today. You can read below theextract from the journal The Tacoma News Tribune where part of the speech was posted, along with its translation, just below the image.
The extract from the newspaper where the phones of the future were predicted
In the future, there will be no escaping phones
Pasadena – AP – The phone of the future?
Mark R. Sullivan, of San Francisco, president and director of the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., said in a speech last night:
“What form the phone of the future will take is of course pure speculation. Here is my prophecy:
“In its final development, the phone will be worn by the individual, perhaps like we wear a watch today. It probably won’t need a dial or the like, and I think users will be able to see each other while they talk, if they want.
Who knows what he will be able to translate from one language to another”.
It is undeniably surprising how precisely today’s mobile phone technology was defined 70 years ago. Sullivan predicted that the phones would be “carried by the individual” and would not remain fixed in the same place, in addition to not needing dial control or similar mechanism.
Perhaps even more striking is the prediction of capabilities of such devicesincluding video calls or even instant translation between different languagesa feature that can already be found on many current smartphones.
It is not the first time that we are confronted with a similar case. Just a few months ago, a 100-year-old comic already predicted the main drawbacks of today’s mobile phones, describing the phone as “the latest modern horror of innovation”.
Relax, discover the evolution of the number of smartphones sold by brand over time in the video below:
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