Surprisingly On-Target Internet Predictions From 1981 And 1969

Check out these two nifty videos, created long ago, that surprisingly get it right about how we use the Internet routinely today. First, a video from 1969 that covers most of today's digital lifestyle in a few short minutes, including Internet shopping, Webcams, bill paying and banking, and e-mail.

Harry McCracken, writing at the blog Technologizer, says, "It's a little bit Jetsons, a little bit Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and surprisingly accurate in its predictions ... even though the computer setups look like microfilm machines crossed with tabletop radios.... "

I love the background music, which makes me think of Tony Curtis seducing Doris Day in a jet-set romantic comedy.

Next: A 1981 TV news show describes a pilot program for distributing newspapers electronically to home PCs.

The news anchor says that eventually we will get all our newspapers and magazines by computer, but she notes that a single edition of the paper currently takes two hours to download, at $5 per hour connect time. (Via MiikoMentz).