Telecommunications: Skype and FaceTime

Telecommunication technology has made leaps and bounds over the last 20 years or more. I remember when three way calling and caller id was all the rage. On March 19, 1995 the 19th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons called "Lisa's Wedding". 

In this episode of The Simpsons Lisa goes to see a fortune teller. As the fortune teller is telling Lisa about her future love the story shifts to an Eastern University in 2010 (15 years in the future from the time of its broadcast), where a 23 year old Lisa meets a British student named Hugh Parkfield, the man she is destined to fall in love with. After Hugh proposes to Lisa she immediately accepts. The next day, Lisa calls home to tell Marge the news, but in the future phones are like Skype or FaceTime. 

So, twenty years ago The Simpsons predicted the future of telecommunication technology. Although The Simpsons version still has an old rotary style phone with a screen on it and we use our laptops, PCs, and cell phones for Skype and FaceTime it is impressive that the creators of this episode were looking so far forward. Their timing for this technology wasn't far off either. The year The Simpsons predicted was 2010, but Skype was launched in August of 2003 and FaceTime in June 2010. 

Skype is a telecommunications application software product that provides video chat and voice calls from computers, cell phones, and tablets via the internet. Users can also send instant messages, exchange images and files, send video messages and create conference calls. 

Apple's FaceTime is basically the same thing as Skype but with fewer applications. It is a telecommunication application for social networking, videotelephony and voice over IP (VOIP). However, the same concept applies to both programs and both provide a way to interact with friends and family via the internet in a more rewarding experience than merely talking to someone on the phone. 

It shouldn't come as a surprise anymore that so many tv shows, cartoons, anime, and Hollywood movies have predicted the technological future. Although what these shows and movies have predicted may not be completely accurate it is still amazing how far technology has come in so short a time. From robot dogs, augmented reality glasses and telecommunication technology among many other inventions, technology is shaping the world of the future even if it hasn't reached the fantastic heights of the imagination of cartoon creators.