Throwback Tech: America’s first videophone

The Picturephone Mod I was showcased in 1964 as the first videophone in America at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow Park. Ecstatic event attendees could queue up to make video phone calls though Bell’s Mod I Picturephone exhibit at the Fair. The phone calls connected to random people at a Picturephone exhibit in California’s Disneyland to demonstrate the technology’s capabilities. The eager participants chatted on the video phone that contained a 16 x 21-inch screen.

In June 1964, AT&T’s Picturephone service was available to the public. First Lady Bird Johnson made a video call to NYC’s Grand Central Station Picturephone booth. Picturephone booths started popping up in cities all across America with its main hubs located in NYC, Chicago, and Washington. These booths required a prior reservation between the people who wanted to video chat, and both had to arrive on time for their reservation in order to start the chat. 

This technology was quite expensive at the time. It cost $16 for a 3-minute call, and 15-minute calls could cost up to $80. In our modern era, that price is the equivalent of $610.

Picturephone technology really didn’t take off the way AT&T expected it to. Several companies made other attempts to make this invention rise, yet continued to fail miserably. In 1969, AT&T released the Picturephone Mod II videophone that featured a 251-line, 30-fps, and a 5 x 5.5-inch black and white image screen. This tech flopped immediately and was cut by 1971.

In 1982, AT&T began its Picturephone Meeting Service, enabling users to schedule video conference calls. This system was ridiculously expensive. For example, a conference call from NYC to LA would cost $2,380 and the company would have to purchase the proper videophone equipment for $117,500. 

In 1992, AT&T developed the VideoPhone 2500 that retailed for $1,500. This unit contained a tiny LCD screen.

The Vialta Beamer, TelyHD, C-Phone, 8×8 ViaTV video chat products appeared throughout the 1990s as they tried to take a stab at the video call market by selling these systems.

When our personal devices universally emerged with pre-installed cameras during the 2000s, all we needed was software to make video calling happen in a more attractive format. Skype was invented in 2003. Apple’s iChat video option was introduced in 2003, around the same time that FaceTime appeared on the iPhone. Now you can even make video calls via Facebook or hold a Google Hangout for video chatting.