Picturephone

Nowadays, with all the apps and services, such as Skype, Viber, etc. that have been developed, video calls are easy and cheap. They can be supported from the Internet on computers and smartphones.

The video calls were originally supported by the Picturephones first presented at the New York World's Fair in 1964 as a futuristic proposition. Their marketing began in 1970 in Chicago and Pittsburgh, USA, but without commercial success.

The Picturephone seen in the photograph is one of those that operated at airports for a few months in the early 1980s and then was withdrawn. Their failure is believed to be due to the following reasons: a) the Picturephone worked normally when the other person in the line used a corresponding one, b) the cost of their operation was very high and c) even the few fanatical users did not always want to be exposed with their image during the call.