PicturePhone. "The product dramatically expands the potential for
Still, Gertner may be too harsh in judging the
Picturephone only as a fiasco.
Second, a VTC is not always just about having a
picturephone conversation.
TelePresence Tech, a designer and manufacturer of advanced communications systems, and
PicturePhone Direct, a value-added distributor of video conferencing products, announced on Friday (15 June) that they have signed a distribution agreement for telepresence systems in the US.
But one might well have said the same thing in 1964 when the Bell System introduced its
PicturePhone. That it was bound to be a success seemed self-evident.
Starting with the
Picturephone, ISDN, home information systems, and video-on-demand, every vision of the future that has compelled the industry has been wrong.
The airline Kubrick envisioned running the lunar shuttle, Pan Am, has more or less gone the way of the dinosaurs, and the Bell
Picturephone a scientist used to ring up his daughter is a gadget most consumers have decided really isn't worth it.
All-purpose personal communicator systems geared to societies "on the go" involve multifunctions: cell phone, e-mail capability, PC, Web surfer, fax, video-television,
picturephone, AM-FM radio, global positioning system, and so on, also are in the running.
Human factors and appearance design considerations of the Model II
PICTUREPHONE station set.
"Anatomy of a failure:
Picturephone revisited." Telecommunications Policy, May/June: 307-316.
Picturephone service introduced between New York, Chicago and Washington...
AT&T's
Picturephone, Nimslo's 3D camera, and Polaroid's instant home movie system, Polavision, are all innovations that failed for lack of demand.