There is some complexity in this. It would have required a single purpose device with network effect working against the adoption. This flipped when everybody was already carrying device with the necessary hardware on them all day everyday.
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Yes, this is another aspect- the device would have been not only single purpose but relatively immobile, even less than a corded phone. And remember the screen would be a CRT, so there'd be a VERY strict lower size limit.
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I'm more inclined to believe Bell or whoever suppressed its development to ensure they stayed a monopoly. The first answering machine was invented in the 1930s, but no one found out about it for 50 years b/c Bell thought it would put their phone tech out of business.
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Suppressing technology isn't that easy -- contrary to myth, a lot of new technologies (or parts of them) get invented at the same time, the "genius" is often industrial design and sometimes making tech practical.
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It's a feature that looks good on TV but doesn't reflect the reality of how people communicate. Sort of the mirror image of how no one in movies ever says goodbye when they end a phone call.
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If video calls had been pushed when I was doing tech support I fully intended to quit first.
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We had cellphones and people wanted to just have walkie talkies.
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For me that was the least plausible aspect of Inifinte Jest - there's a whole thing about people getting into weird masking technology due to video calls, and I remember thinking, I just wouldn't put video on. And now I just don't. People rarely require it.
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It is literally a feature Deaf people have used for decades
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Dang, very good point!
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