Predicting the future of technology is never easy. The incredible capabilities of the smartphone in my pocket today were nearly inconceivable in 1989.
That’s when NHPR’s Leslie Bennett made this fateful comment:
“It seems like telephones have gotten as complicated as they’re ever going to get. I may regret saying that.”
Ouch – sorry, Leslie. She was speaking from Datatech ’89, a business technology trade show in Manchester. The vendors she spoke with shared their visions for office technology in the ‘90s and beyond:
“These fax machines can talk back and forth to each other. And we do have some that are live, actually hooked up to live telephone lines … We can talk to Japan if we want to, or Russia, or anywhere else.”
That’s right … fax machines were a hot item in 1989. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What exciting gadget from today will be a fossil tomorrow?
From The Archives this week, we revisit Leslie Bennett’s story from Datatech ’89.
Originally broadcast November 1, 1989.