Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander, videoconferencing, 1960.

This classic photo shows videoconferening in the days of rotary phones, which was possible in analog form right around the time of TV’s introduction, but it wasn’t available to consumers for several decades and Skype was a mere pipe dream at the time. Copy from a 1969 Bell Systems publication about the introduction of the “Picturephone”:

“THE TELEPHONE brought a new dimension to human communications. Where previously men had been able to send written messages over wires as electrical signals, the telephone made it possible for the human voice to span the miles. Now, almost a hundred years later, the telephone is commonplace and another dimension is being added-that of sight. And just as the telephone has revolutionized human habits of communicating and made a major contribution to the quality of modern life, many of us at Bell Labs believe that PICTUREPHONE® service, the service that lets people see as well as hear each other, offers potential benefits to mankind of the same magnitude. It is a tribute to the flexibility and versatility of the existing telephone network that Picturephone service, now being readied for introduction as a regular Bell System offering, can be added as an integral part of telephone service. What is Picturephone service like? Most important, of course, the user sees the person with whom he is talking. People today are so accustomed to using the telephone and to its usefulness as an instrument of communication, that they sometimes overlook the importance of vision in communication. But think, do you telephone the person in the next office or go to see him? Most people sense a more complete and satisfying exchange when they can both see and talk to each other. Thus, the advantage of more complete communication with Picturephone service is readily apparent.

Picturephone service is useful in other ways too. Graphic material, such as drawings, photographs, and physical objects, can be viewed with the Picturephone set. The equipment can also be used to communicate with a computer. The customer ‘talks’ to the computer via TOUCH-TONE@ dialing buttons, and the computer’s responses are displayed on the picture tube.”

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Below is amazing footage of computer pioneer Douglas Carl Engelbert‘s 1968 demo of videoconferecning (and other tech stuff, including the mouse) , which was aimed at the business market: “You as an intellectual worker, supplied with a computer display, backed up with a computer that was alive for you all day, and was instantly responsive to every action you had. How much value could you derive from that?”