Londonist: Time Machine

Londonist: Time Machine

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Londonist: Time Machine
Londonist: Time Machine
Past Futures: How Victorian Londoners Predicted 21st Century Tech

Past Futures: How Victorian Londoners Predicted 21st Century Tech

Mobile phones, video calls, pay-per-view sport... even Wikipedia.

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Londonist
Sep 27, 2023
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Londonist: Time Machine
Londonist: Time Machine
Past Futures: How Victorian Londoners Predicted 21st Century Tech
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Image: iStock, adapted by Matt Brown

Nobody could have predicted the internet, right? Wrong. Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, when people like Edison and Bell were inventing modern communications, all kinds of predictions were made about where the rapid progress might take us. Video conferencing, transatlantic sports broadcasts, mobile phone…

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