How long have we had video calling technology?

It seems fitting that we should celebrate the anniversary of the advent of video calling technology in the midst of a pandemic that has made that technology so vital. Exactly 50 years ago, on June 30, 1970, Pittsburgh Mayor Pete Flaherty participated in the first public demonstration of a video call. Using Bell Labs and AT&T’s newly invented Picturephone, he sat at his desk and chatted face-to-face with Alcoa Chairman John Harper, who was in another location.

Unfortunately, the Picturephone itself never really caught on. The device was wildly expensive — $1,000 by today’s standards — and had an additional per-minute charge when in use. It also required the use of multiple phone lines in order to get enough bandwidth to transmit the video and audio. Two years after it launched, only a handful of devices had been sold, and the project was officially terminated.

Today, however, it’s clear that the Picturephone was just ahead of its time. The ability to see and talk with someone in real time without having to be in the same room with them has never been more useful than it is right now.