--- title: "Before FaceTime: When The Picturephone Was The Future" description: Before we were Skyping, Bell Telephone’s Picturephone was envisioning the future of transcontinental video calls. image: https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2017/blog-assets/picturephone.jpg --- [![TG\_LOGO](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/TeleGeography%20Hub%20Theme%20Nov%202025/images/TG_LOGO.svg)](https://www2.telegeography.com/) - [About](https://www2.telegeography.com/about-us) - [Research](https://www2.telegeography.com/our-research) - [Products](https://www2.telegeography.com/products) - [Solutions](https://www2.telegeography.com/solutions) - [Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com) [Log In](https://www.telegeography.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegeography.com%2Faccount%2Fhome%2Findex) [Contact](https://www2.telegeography.com/contact-us) ###### Data and Analysis Tools - [Cloud and WAN Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/cloud-and-wan-infrastructure) - [Data Center Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/data-center-research-service) - [GlobalComms Database](https://www2.telegeography.com/globalcomms-database-service) - [International Voice Report](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-report-and-database) - [IP Networks Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/ip-networks-research-service) - [ISP Navigator](https://www2.telegeography.com/isp-navigatorisp-navigator) - [Transport Networks Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/transport-networks) - [Network Pricing Database](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-pricing-database) - [WAN Cost Benchmark](https://www2.telegeography.com/wan-cost-benchmark) - [Product Passes](https://www2.telegeography.com/product-passes) ###### Consulting - [All Consulting Services](https://www2.telegeography.com/consulting) - [Submarine Cable Consulting](https://www2.telegeography.com/submarine-cable-consulting) ###### Maps - [All Map Services](https://www2.telegeography.com/map-services) - [Sponsor a Map](https://www2.telegeography.com/sponsor-a-map) - [License Map Data](https://www2.telegeography.com/license-geocoded-map-data) - [Cite a Map](https://www2.telegeography.com/cite-telegeography-map) - [Buy a Map](https://shop.telegeography.com/collections/telecom-maps/) ###### Industry - [Education](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-for-education) - [Enterprise](https://www2.telegeography.com/enterprise) - [Tech](https://www2.telegeography.com/tech) - [Telecom](https://www2.telegeography.com/telecom) ###### Case Studies - [AI + Retail Telecom Data](https://www2.telegeography.com/where-to-get-global-telecom-data) - [EXA Infrastructure](https://www2.telegeography.com/exa-infrastructure-case-study) - [Orange Wholesale](https://www2.telegeography.com/orange-wholesale-case-study) - [The European Commission](https://www2.telegeography.com/the-european-commissions-data-backed-approach-to-international-policy) [Back to Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com) # Before FaceTime: When The Picturephone Was The Future ##### By [Jayne Miller,](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller) Mar 27, 2017 [Voice](https://resources.telegeography.com/tag/voice) "From a booth set up in Grand Central Terminal, a person could talk to a friend in Chicago or Washington while also seeing them on a small video screen. The friend would also have to go to a special booth in those cities to take the call. The price for the novelty of a three-minute call was $16. That would be equivalent to $121 in today’s money." This excerpt comes from the *New York Times* piece [How the Future Looked in 1964: The Picturephone](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/upshot/how-the-future-looked-in-1964-the-picturephone.html). It would seem that long before we were making Slack video calls, [Bell Telephone’s Picturephone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videophone#AT.26T_Picturephone:_1964) was making the same promise of transcontinental video calls to friends and family, but for a heftier price. The boxy screen and handset, known as "Mod I," went on display at the [1964 World’s Fair](http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/08/15/340669390/episode-561-how-the-future-looked-50-years-ago), where it mixed and mingled with jet packs, time capsules, and a Dupont musical presentation of "The Wonderful World of Chemistry."  While New York's Grand Central Terminal, Washington D.C., and Chicago were excited to see Picturephones installed in 1964, 10 years came and went and only a few hundred Picturephones were leased across the country. The Mod II was discontinued by the late 1970s. By that time, the future wasn't looking quite as much like the Picturephone as it was [touch screens and flavored Coca-Cola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_World%27s_Fair). ## The Modern Voice Market TeleGeography's [International Voice Report](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-report-and-database) notes some of the latest headlines in an industry in which the Picturephone is a distant memory: - **OTT Traffic Impact:** OTT services, which deliver content directly to users via the internet, are a primary factor in the decline of the international voice market. - **Rise of Communication Apps:** Smartphone-based communication apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, have become dominant, with approximately 6 billion monthly users as of September 2024. - **OTT vs. Carrier Traffic:** Cross-border OTT traffic exceeded international carrier traffic in 2016. By 2024, OTT traffic is projected to reach 1.3 trillion minutes, significantly surpassing the projected 305 billion minutes of traditional carrier traffic. - **Shift in Communication Patterns:** Traditional carrier traffic is decreasing, while OTT traffic is increasing. ![Jayne Miller](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/tg-staff/Jayne-Miller-TeleGeography.png) #### Jayne Miller Jayne Miller is TeleGeography's Director of Operations. She has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and creative strategist. [View Jayne Miller Work](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller) ## Explore Related Content ![What is the Nyquist Theorem and Why Does it Matter?](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2016/blog/telephone-handset-1678302_1920.jpg) ###### Blog Oct 7, 2016 #### [What is the Nyquist Theorem and Why Does it Matter?](https://resources.telegeography.com/what-is-the-nyquist-theorem-and-why-does-it-matter) It’s a good week to celebrate math and science. As the world celebrates a new batch of Nobel Laureates –... [View More by Jayne Miller](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller) [Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/what-is-the-nyquist-theorem-and-why-does-it-matter) ![What](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2016/blog/computer-1209641_1920.jpg) ###### Blog Aug 23, 2016 #### [What's the Difference Between the World Wide Web and the Internet?](https://resources.telegeography.com/whats-the-difference-between-the-world-wide-web-and-the-internet) Happy Internaut Day! On August 23, 1991, users accessed the World Wide Web for the first time, paving... 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[View More by Jayne Miller](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller) [Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/the-ultimate-throwback-thursday-telegeographys-first-map-cables-in-1996) [![TG\_LOGO\_color\_horizontal\_SIMPLIFIED 1](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/TeleGeography%20Hub%20Theme%20Nov%202025/images/TG_LOGO_color_horizontal_SIMPLIFIED%201.svg)](https://www2.telegeography.com/) [Login](https://www.telegeography.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegeography.com%2Faccount%2Fhome%2Findex) [Contact Us](https://www2.telegeography.com/contact-us) ###### [About](https://www2.telegeography.com/about-us) - [Research](https://www2.telegeography.com/our-research) - [Products](https://www2.telegeography.com/products) - [Solutions](https://www2.telegeography.com/solutions) - [Demo](https://www2.telegeography.com/demo) ###### [Press](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-press) - [Events](https://www2.telegeography.com/telecom-events) - [Careers](https://www2.telegeography.com/careers) ###### [Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com/) - [Podcast](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast) - [Newsletter](https://www2.telegeography.com/subscribe-to-telegeography-emails) - - All Rights Reserved 2026 - [Privacy Policy](https://www2.telegeography.com/privacy-policy) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jayne Miller", "url" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller" }, "dateModified" : "2026-01-30T03:04:48.421Z", "datePublished" : "2017-03-27T13:25:00.000Z", "headline" : "Before FaceTime: When The Picturephone Was The Future", "image" : [ "https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2017/blog-assets/picturephone.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/before-skype-and-facetime-when-the-picturephone-was-the-future", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/assets/telegeography/telegeography-logo-blog.png" }, "name" : "TeleGeography" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org/", "@type" : "WebSite", "image" : "https://www2.telegeography.com/hubfs/Website/assets/logo/telegeography-logo.svg", "name" : "Before FaceTime: When The Picturephone Was The Future", "potentialAction" : { "@type" : "SearchAction", "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string", "target" : "{search_term_string}" }, "url" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/before-skype-and-facetime-when-the-picturephone-was-the-future" } ```