"LA 2013" Futurist Article by LA Times Magazine from 1988

[Locutus of Bored]

It's like the old science-fiction predictions of telephones with live 2-way video. The technology exists now -- in fact, it's been around for at least the last couple of decades -- but how many people use video for everyday phone conversations? There's simply no need for it. The telephone was invented for voice communication, and that's what we still use it for.

There are plenty of "needs" for it in specific functions and instances, such as teleconferencing, where it's quite common and where you are already dressed presentably. Telecommuting to work is also catching on. I'll avoid going into porn. And while it's not two-way, tons of people use the camera on their computers, phones, and other devices to upload videos of themselves to YouTube and so forth, which is no different from a videophone in terms of how you look onscreen.

The reason it hasn't caught on with the public at-large except as a novelty you quickly get tired of* is mostly vanity related (* I Skyped about five times, and then just to say "Hey, I can see you! Can you see me? Okay, that was fun... now what?"). Most people don't want to have to be presentable and blemish-free 24/7 to an extremely close-up camera just to answer the phone.

For scifi related examples, think of the lovely view up Burke's nose while he was half-naked and half-asleep answering Ripley's middle of the night videophone call in Aliens, and what she must have looked like in her sweat-soaked tank top and mussed up hair. Think of the topless woman accidentally calling the wrong number in Demolition Man, which I'm sure was great for him, but embarrassing for her.

That's why videophones remain mostly a quickly forgotten novelty in the general public, because most people don't want to have to deal with that kind of crap every day just to handle basic communications. It's not that they have no use or need whatsoever. Hell, to take it a step further, most kids bypass even the voice communication and go right to texting each other instead, so even two-way voice communication is on the decline.

 

[Amaris]

I'm working on getting the whole of human communication down to a series of clicks and pops. Then I'm bringing back the telegraph. At a premium.

 

[trekkiedane]

Most people don't want to have to be presentable and blemish-free 24/7 to an extremely close-up camera just to answer the phone.

Which is why we need* the put-on-make-up-gadget...
Perhaps something akin to the thing seen in The Fifth Element:

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1AAUYNgzi0[/YT]​

(Or perhaps a booth-model that also does the hair ** )


When I was young there was a bit of fear that robots would 'take all the jobs away from people'... the counter-argument was that there would always be a need for people overseeing that the jobs were done right...

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o45W1RUqOwM[/YT]​

______
*) Not really a question of whether we need it, 'cause if we don't, the industry is going to make us!
ETA **) I think it had an appearance in Absolutely Fabulous.

 

[M'Sharak]

Seeing the thread title reminded of "LA 2017," a 1971 episode from the TV series The Name of the Game. The city seen in that story was markedly different from the article's picture. For one thing, the famous L.A. smog—rather than improving dramatically, as it did in real life—was depicted as having grown so much worse that the surface was abandoned as all moved underground to escape the toxic air.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbUhy-5z6c[/yt]

Home robots with artificial intelligence is still in the realm of science fiction today.

If by "robot," we mean a machine that looks, walks and talks like a human being and possesses artificial intelligence...

Why the assumption of human appearance and function?

 

[sojourner]

Why the assumption of human appearance and function?

While human appearance wouldn't be required, humanoid form would be useful considering our environment is built to accommodate humans. Modifications that still work in an environment designed for humans (such as additional arms) would work, but something with 4 legs would be awkward in the living room.

 

[B.J.]

Most people don't want to have to be presentable and blemish-free 24/7 to an extremely close-up camera just to answer the phone.

Which is why we need* the put-on-make-up-gadget...
Perhaps something akin to the thing seen in The Fifth Element:


(Or perhaps a booth-model that also does the hair ** )

How about a "morning mask" like in the Jetsons?
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0idWiHiasKg[/yt]