Although a 2004 Photoshop hoax, this picture still cracks me up! Given that even the smallest functioning computers in the 1950s were big enough to fill a master bedroom, no one at the time could have envisioned them becoming home appliances. Remington Rand's UNIVAC I, the very first commercial computer made in the United States, weighed 29,000 pounds and occupied over 350 square feet of floor space. Like other computer models of the time, it didn't have a video monitor, let alone a steering wheel.
The caption reads: "Scientists from the RAND corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "Home Computer" could look like in the year 2004. However, the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the FORTRAN language, the computer will be easy to use."
Ha! That's funny. I love the wheel and the cockeyed TV console on the wall.
ReplyDeleteCurt Buthman