The Internet as Conceived in 1969

The Internet certainly has changed the way we live, work, shop, and communicate. We may think we're superior to previous generations because of all our Internet-based technology, but we have video proof that the Internet was actually conceptualized in 1969. In many ways, our parents and grandparents were spot on with their predictions. In other ways, not so much.

"This Video Console will Be Channeled into the Store of Her Choice"
Today, online shopping is definitely "one of the many homemakers' conveniences." In fact, for the upcoming holiday season, a study by Accenture reports that 65% of U.S. shoppers will browse online for what they're looking for. Of course, the biggest shopping difference between the 1969 vision of the future and how online shopping works today, is seen with website hosting. Today, when we visit a store's website, our "video console" is really receiving information from a datacenter, not a live camera feed of the actual product at the department store.

"Maintains a Watch on Critical Areas in the House"
Digital surveillance has come a long way since 1969 with capabilities far exceeding watching brother and sister play nice together. Today, surveillance technology is easily accessible for a homemaker to monitor the property from her living-room-turned-command center, yet digital surveillance isn't as commonplace in the home as the 1960's predicted. You will find many businesses taking advantage of digital surveillance and using the cloud to monitor a live feed of the office from anywhere and on any device, but using a surveillance system to watch your kids play in the backyard is just not practical.

"What the Wife Selects on Her Console Will be Paid for by the Husband on His Counterpart Console"
There's a lot here that 1969 got right. Here are just a few points:

• The prediction that each member of the family will require their own "console."
• "All bills and transactions will be carried out electronically."
• A "central bank computer will credit the amount."
• Online transactions today are instantaneous as different databases "inform (sync up to) the family's home computer at the same time."
• "An instantaneous printed copy of his budget." A basic accounting app can track all of a family's finances in one easy-to-understand printout (although printing paper is now outdated).
• That look on the husband's face when he opens the bill from Amazon.com.

"An Electronic Correspondence Machine"
A machine allowing for "instant written communication between individuals anywhere in the world" is an accurate description of the fax machine, which was in its infancy in 1969 and known as a "Long Distance Xerography." Fax machines can still be found in many offices and even in homes, but for the most part, they have been replaced by email and other forms of digital communication. It's interesting how the "electronic correspondence machine" in the video has an interface like that of a stylus today. Writing emails with a stylus on PDAs was popular in the 90s and early 2000s, but we have since moved on to touchscreens.

"Alerts the Communal Service Agency for Replacement"
Hey, that's us! Even in 1969 computers and all of their "hundreds of complex electronic circuits" needed maintenance. Thankfully, computer maintenance and repair got simpler after advancing beyond the vacuum tube technology of the 1960's. With SMART Services's remote monitoring and maintenance service, we can be your "communal service agency" and monitor your systems from our end, remotely perform maintenances to take care of issues "if and when trouble develops," and we include in our service contract visits by our technicians to take care of hardware problems.

This computer maintenance vision of the future is very accurate, and it's what SMART Services does best today in 2013! To learn more about our futuristic IT services, call us at 586 258-0650 .