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AT&T's 'You Will' Ads from 1993 Predicted the Future (2018)

• hollerith 2y ago
  Give me a break: anyone who did a little investigation could see in 1993 what the internet would become. The internet was already by far the largest network of computers in the world. These ads were an attempt by AT&T to get some of the credit for the internet when in actuality it did nothing to help it along (after the physicists at Bell Labs invented the transistor and fiber optics). (Much of the internet backbone in 1993 ran on lines leased from AT&T, but AT&T was legally required to lease lines to any customer for any purpose as part of its settlement of an anti-trust lawsuit, and if AT&T didn't have this legal obligation, probably would've tried to prevent the internet from using its network like it tried to prevent anyone from connecting a modem to its network.)
  • deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  • itisit 2y ago
    Fully agree that these ads were hardly unique in their prescience. Reminds me of how AT&T failed alongside General Magic in deploying a commercial network experience that ignored the browser. [0] My guess is this was the initial vision on display in these commercials. The internet may be the new plumbing, but the experience would still be a proprietary online service, not a proper ISP. [0] http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2014/06/102725220/102725220-05-01-acc.pdf http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/201...