For these ads to succeed, they not only had to present a vision of the future, they also had to do so in a way that someone watching the ad could understand in

For these ads to succeed, they not only had to present a vision of the future, they also had to do so in a way that someone watching the ad could understand in just a few seconds. That doesn't leave much time for explanation. So they chose to present things in a way that the average person in 1993 could relate to. Everyone would have been familiar with calling home from a pay phone when traveling -- so it would make sense to present a future where video calling is done from a pay phone. That doesn't necessarily mean AT&T thought this is exactly how the future would play out.