I hope you get Transporter and Replicator technology soon!
Even in the 80s a lot of the touchpad phones would still dial like a rotary phone under the hood. I remember we first got touch tone in the 80s because it made my Commodore 64 1200 baud modem work better (I was trying on my poor Mom...).
Hmmm, not sure if that's actually the case or not. It does seem if real-time voice communication has been supplanted by text messaging in a lot of ways. I think part of the problem with video phones is they were presented as if they'd be always on. Like you'd get out of the shower or be undressed and be forced to use the phone. As we see today video isn't probably desirable for all communication but there are times it is. We use it on special occasions with family that are overseas or cross-country. My grandmothers came to America from France and Italy and went years between seeing their families. I have to imagine video communication would've been nice from time-to-time.
You bring up some very good points, which I'm sure applied. Thanks for the response, because it is interesting to think about how past decades were so close to certain, similar technologies that we take for granted to day, but - for whatever reason - just didn't pan out.
It isn't a matter of how much it's hyped, it's a matter of practical necessity. The telephone was invented for voice communication and that's what we still use it for. For at least 90 percent of phone conversations, we don't want or need to see the person we're speaking with -- and they don't need to see us either.
@Mr Adventure
My Enterprise 1701 (TOS) phone had touch pads for dialing, but it was still a traditional rotary dial system. Lost its use when Ma Bell ended the rotary option where I live.
