DEV Community

Discussion on: Remember phonebooks?

Collapse
 
jacoby profile image
Dave Jacoby

In the 90s, there was a series of ads where they would show a series of near-future things, like a travelling mother saying goodnight to her child via camera-phone, or classrooms of children having electronic "pen-pals" on another continent, ending with "And the company who will bring it to you is AT&T".

The last of the pieces that needed to come true was one I tracked down recently where a rebellious-looking young man, dressed like Bender from Breakfast Club, walked through a grocery store shoving things into the pockets of his huge great coat, and when he walked out, the security guard yelled out "You forgot your receipt!" That one, fully automated checkout, is the central idea to the Amazon store.

And the company that is almost out of the loop as anything but cell carrier these days is AT&T.