These Vintage Ideas of the Future Were Actually Pretty Impressive

These Vintage Ideas of the Future Were Actually Pretty Impressive

Shannon Quinn - December 15, 2022

These Vintage Ideas of the Future Were Actually Pretty Impressive
An illustration from 1900 predicting how performances would be viewed in the year 2000. Credit: Rare Historical Photos

Performances Would Be Projected on the Wall So You Could Watch Opera From Home

In a lot of ways, this prediction depicted on a German postcard from 1900 was spot-on for what life would be like in the year 2000. The image shows a camera recording a live performance of an opera singer, while people can watch it from the comfort of their own homes. Of course, there are some things that don’t quite add up. Instead of watching on a TV screen, they are all gathered around a projection. Without speakers, they each have to hold their ear to a speaker like the ones used for the telephone. This combined technology that already existed at the time, and put it together to propose a new invention that never came to pass.

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