The first video conference is 50 years old

It has already been 50 years since AT&T introduced its Picturephone II, the first consumer video conferencing system. A video shows the very first video call made with the device, on June 30, 1970.

With the pandemic, the world adopted in mass the videoconference , and programs like Zoom have become very popular. However, video calls existed long before our mobile devices and modern applications : this June 30, 2020 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Picturephone II , the first commercial videoconferencing system.

As early as 1877, the year after the invention of the telephone, the  New York Sun imagined a system which carried both image and voice, and which would be used by lovers, merchants or researchers. However, it was not until 1964 and the AT&T Picturephone for the first successful video call system . It was rather a technical demonstration. The Picturephone network consisted of three public terminals in New York, Washington and Chicago, and cost $ 16 for a three-minute call.

Picturephone II already included document sharing

Its successor, the Picturephone II, is the first video conferencing device offered to the general public, intended to be installed in corporate offices. This new service was launched on June 30, 1970 thanks to an appeal between Pete Flaherty, then-mayor of Pittsburgh, and John Harper, CEO of Alcoa. This service was already very successful, and John Harper had demonstrated its main functions during the event. It was possible to go into private mode by cutting the sound or the image, and even to share a document on the screen thanks to a removable mirror placed above the camera.

Despite everything, the success was not there. Adoption peaked in 1973, with only 453 aircraft in service. With a rental price of $ 160 at the time, and only 30 minutes of calls included, the Picturephone II was simply too expensive for individuals and most businesses.