It’s not really predicting. It’s following developments in the world and talking to industry leaders. GSM was introduced in 1991 which means that companies like Ericsson, Alcatel and Nokia were already started developing networks years before. So making this report in 1989 is not about predicting but more talking about the state of technology. And as a comparison: telecom companies are already developing 6G networks which will only be ready by 2030 at the earliest.
Artic: It was no prediction. Mobile phones had already been used in the field (Army Navy etc) for years before this announcement. It was just a case of refining the phone to a more usuable size and range.
None of us could possibly envisage in 1989 that this 'portable phone' would also become a TV, videophone, video recorder, video camera, stills camera, music player, sound recorder, navigational aid, calculator, pager, gaming device and a means of accessing almost all human knowledge with thousands of times the computational power of the most advanced supercomputers of the era. Had a time-traveller told me this in 1989, I would have thought them utterly crazy and what they were saying was pure Star Trek sci-fi.
Yes, I had a bit of a teenage thing about her. She got the boring medical stories and seemed forever to be talking about platelets (whatever they are).
Thank you for posting this, first time i have ever seen it, i worked on the telepoint "forum" phone back in 89 (at 0:45 secs in the video) and have recently managed to purchase a handset again as they are now classed as museum pieces.
I worked for Racal in 1985, who? Racal built, owned and operated the Vodafone network. The name stems from VOice and DAta Phone. We predicted that between us and Cellnet (BT and Securicor) there would be 500,000 users. We used 7 cell repeat pattern with 28 frequencies per channel, you dropped the call when you moved from one cell to another and all the channels were full. We didn’t get our sums right!
They’re talking about smaller more efficient mobile phones, the first time I used a mobile phone was 1988 a large one piece unit you paid for incoming and outgoing calls, so their prediction in 1989 wasn’t exactly earth shattering just tech becoming more available and more efficient…..Still interesting none the less
Given the "Personal Communications Network" name, they are talking about GSM-1800. It launched as one2one in 1993 and Orange in 1994. According to the Wikipedia article, the original plans also included the CT2 phones they showed which didn't last long. The big shame is Rabbit was fantastic branding wasted on a flop.
This didn't catch on. They're not talking about cell phones, they're talking about public networks using DECT. You wouldn't get wide coverage like cell phones, but much shorter range coverage in certain locations, basically Wi-Fi hot spots. This had its time in some Asian countries like Japan (PHS) and Hong Kong, where the access points were put around ATMs, so you had a bunch of (poorer) people hanging around there.
Wow, I love old videos imagining the future, their expectations are funny, and they end up deviating from reality by a wide margin. Viewing this video in 2024 in the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence age.
I agree. Another old staple in the Tomorrow's World armoury was putting a man on Mars. Every few years there were predictions as early as the 80s or 90s and yet we can hardly get a capsule to the ISS these days.
@@stephenguppy7882 We are currently going through a golden age of space exploration so look again. We have explored Mars, we're going back to the moon. There will be a manned mission to Mars, the artemis moon missions are the stepping stone. We have a real image of a black hole and we took samples from an asteroid travelling at thousands mph. Our space telescopes can see further than ever before in far more detail. Remote exploration makes space exploration far more feasible. We have achieved so much in modern times.
Proy: this was no 'imagining' Mobile phones had been used in the field (Army, Navy etc) for decades . . . They are just explaining how the technology will advance to make phones more accessible in every day use.
I remember TW showing the Rabbit phone. (Calm down 😂) It was a mobile but only worked in certain places where you had to find a Rabbit logo in town and stand near it.
well you can do that now if you change phones- not sure if you could do that until very recently. one reason is that although the mobile phone marjket has actually reached saturation point (ie nearly everyone has one nowadays), the constant of invention ew technology and scrapping older features means we constatntly change phone sets- and thats why we get new numbers whenever we buy a new phone
@sandmboy1 Very optional these days. I mean, I've had the same number for probably a decade now. Whereas my nephew is an annoying little turd, and changes his number all the time - every few months or so 😆
My mother used to fancy the male presenter when I was a little kid, Ill have to Google him as his name escapes me, but both Judith and My Mum Fancied Him were both great presenters, not idiotic, clear, informative and sensible with a sense of humour. Such a cracking show, especially the Howard Stableford and Phillippa Forester years. I guess tech has just come too advanced now to cover, and terrestrial tv isnt important anymore. Ah shame.
There were those times where your phone cloned by hackers stealing all your infos now, QR codes are introduced(Japan uses QR codes since the late 1990s). Still skeptic if QRs are easily to be hacked otherwise, we are here anyways.
She said, "The changes will happen mostly in the Networks" referring to progress in the portable phone's progress to be one of the ultimate achievements of the late Twentieth/early Twenty-first Century. Anyone speculating on the next major transition of the physical object known as the "Smart Phone"?
Actually, if they had just left as a phone,it would have been great! But no, just had to take it too far! Kids got hold of it, social media access, internet, camera, conference calling Its now an Ideal bullying and scamming weapon It’s actually difficult to get by without a smart phone now!
I agree, smartphones are sinister in my opinion, how many people have been scammed on them, answer too many. They are great when out and being able to ring someone in an emergency, but why would you need to watch videos on them or even get on the internet whilst out and about. Face x, tic tok etc are just far too dangerous and should be banned.
Can’t see it working to be honest, how could you possibly be able to talk to someone else without a phone line plugged into your phone, you would need 100s of feet of cable trailing behind you, really these inventions are just plain crazy and I would say to any else don’t be fooled by this, what are they going to think of next
Well, we are there now but without the lifetime phone number - thankfully and the UK did not become the global leader. Still, the forecast was fairly accurate.
@@ianwalshaw1274 Yes of course, here in the United States, number porting has been a thing for over 30 years. The problem is, do you want to keep the same number? Have had to change mine over the years due to telemarketers. I no longer give out my personal number to businesses and that sort of things only family and friends. Every one else gets my disposable number and e mail address.
Think its about time the stopped calling them phones as in Australia since 3G was shut down and now only have 4&5G making a phone call unless your right near a tower is absolutely hopeless CDMA was great 3G had good range but the crap we have now is totally useless
Nah, wasn’t convinced about them then, and I’m still not now. Never had one, never will. Same with the internet thingy, never used it, never will. All you need is a good dog, a packet of ciggies and…well thats about it.
The accuracy of their predictions is truly astounding. They were really close.
Predictive programming. They knew exactly what they were doing
It’s not really predicting. It’s following developments in the world and talking to industry leaders. GSM was introduced in 1991 which means that companies like Ericsson, Alcatel and Nokia were already started developing networks years before. So making this report in 1989 is not about predicting but more talking about the state of technology. And as a comparison: telecom companies are already developing 6G networks which will only be ready by 2030 at the earliest.
If you look throughout the years, history was very good at predicting the future. A lot of stuff is obviously inaccurate, but some of it is dead on.
Artic: It was no prediction. Mobile phones had already been used in the field (Army Navy etc) for years before this announcement. It was just a case of refining the phone to a more usuable size and range.
In reality none of us in 1989 could have ever predicted where we would be in 2024!
They didn't even mention texting, the new way for drivers to meet head-on
In a head on collision.
That should be on a billboard somewhere
"The other great thing about cellphones is that they will turn you into an asshole"
No one knew at that time that we would be watching them through pocket pc with touchscreen and a software known as youtube.
The introduction of communication where people don't actually talk to each other
Ah the days before everyone became addicted to walking around with their eyes glued to the mobile
None of us could possibly envisage in 1989 that this 'portable phone' would also become a TV, videophone, video recorder, video camera, stills camera, music player, sound recorder, navigational aid, calculator, pager, gaming device and a means of accessing almost all human knowledge with thousands of times the computational power of the most advanced supercomputers of the era.
Had a time-traveller told me this in 1989, I would have thought them utterly crazy and what they were saying was pure Star Trek sci-fi.
But unlike Star Trek.. the tech we have to day is completely useless when compared to Star treks propulsion system, med bays, food sythesizers etc
Who is here in 2024 watching this on their phone?
I’m in 2023.
199I
2037 here on my holodoc
2025
No, it’s 2025 and I’m on my iPad.
Judith Hann!! A legend!!
Good morning my special someone.have a great day. Thinking of you.xxxx
Yes, I had a bit of a teenage thing about her. She got the boring medical stories and seemed forever to be talking about platelets (whatever they are).
@ your platelets mostly exist in your bloodstream, otherwise, I’m lost!
Platelets carry nutrients round the body within your blood.
Hello, hope you are safe and well.xxxx
Funny that they were using the word “cell” here and yet in the UK they never called it a cell phone but a mobile phone.
Remember BT cellnet
Thank you for posting this, first time i have ever seen it, i worked on the telepoint "forum" phone back in 89 (at 0:45 secs in the video) and have recently managed to purchase a handset again as they are now classed as museum pieces.
They'll never catch on. Why pay for an expensive phone when there are twenty five cent payphones all over the place?
where
@@mikecorleone4469 Everywhere...in 1989.
Right.. C'mon get with the times people - it's the 90's now
Just like computers
@@perry5588 And the horseless carriage.
I’m watching this on my telephone with a built-in television screen. Or should I say pocket computer with a built in telephone 😄
2045 me, wait until you see what we’re using now!
Sticks & clubs & respirators?
When the BBC actually knew stuff
at one time the Brits had established everything for example the BTU.
The BBC knew a lot, and chose not to tell anyone in certain cases.
Watching this on my phone
'and carry your phone with you everywhere' conditioning
Definitely a precursor to “you’re going to be tracked”.
If you could go back in a time machine and show them today's tech 😮
1:07 Very interesting, he said the 'smart card phone'.
2025 here watching on my watch that also makes calls ,texts,email, plays music, and tells time .
Wonder if any of those prototypes are still around.
1:20 Man that’s so cool!! I can’t wait till they start making phones you can watch videos on!
Correction: I don’t have to wait for them to start making phones you can watch videos on.
Tomorrow's World & Top Of The Pops, That's Thursday evening sorted then? Any1 else spend Thursday like that?
Land phones became so portable they yeeted themselves out of existence.
Watching this on a cell phone in 2024 - 25
"Yes, even an in-built television screen could eventually be feasible." Nah, I doubt it.
Holy ish! They predicted FaceTime!!! 😮
And pretty soon. You will be able to wach videos on your phone
Or even use a fully featured DAW or control a huge light show with your phone!
Pure fantasy could never happen
Absolutely impossible. It will never happen.
And Britain is a leader in mo-bile communications as you’d expect
Mobile* and not Mowble either!
And please tell us how this 2.55 minute video demonstrate your outlandish observation?
From when an apple was something you eat , and a I.pad needed a biro
Apple were around then, they made desktop computers.
Got my first panasonic in 1996 like a double decker bar bills were silly.
In 30 years our phones now will be just as archaic. The landlines 30 years ago had better sound than the tinny cellphone sound today.
Yes. They will be implanted into you at birth. Isn't technology great?!
pure science fiction
Inbuilt television screens built in?
Personally I can’t see that ever happening
Are you crazy-next thing you’ll see is a phone in the car with an antenna sticking out of the rear window.
I worked for Racal in 1985, who? Racal built, owned and operated the Vodafone network. The name stems from VOice and DAta Phone. We predicted that between us and Cellnet (BT and Securicor) there would be 500,000 users. We used 7 cell repeat pattern with 28 frequencies per channel, you dropped the call when you moved from one cell to another and all the channels were full. We didn’t get our sums right!
TACS or eTACS 😃
@ started with TAcs then we moved to extended total access comms when the military released the frequencies
Should bring back System 4 radiophones on VHF😃
Now that was a portable system............
They’re talking about smaller more efficient mobile phones, the first time I used a mobile phone was 1988 a large one piece unit you paid for incoming and outgoing calls, so their prediction in 1989 wasn’t exactly earth shattering just tech becoming more available and more efficient…..Still interesting none the less
Given the "Personal Communications Network" name, they are talking about GSM-1800.
It launched as one2one in 1993 and Orange in 1994. According to the Wikipedia article, the original plans also included the CT2 phones they showed which didn't last long. The big shame is Rabbit was fantastic branding wasted on a flop.
Same capability little did we know what the future had in store
Watching on my S23 Ultra in 2025
A portable phone for everyone.
That's Excatly how it's been transpired.
Your be able to also locate your soul mate which will bring you immense happiness
Science fiction becoming science fact................
A tv? On our phones?! Witch! Witch!
Beam me up scotty.
Steve Jobs was laughing his head off !
Phones with TV screens? I wonder if that ever caught on... 🤔
1:26 “will be expensive”, that was before China was not in their equation.
This didn't catch on. They're not talking about cell phones, they're talking about public networks using DECT. You wouldn't get wide coverage like cell phones, but much shorter range coverage in certain locations, basically Wi-Fi hot spots. This had its time in some Asian countries like Japan (PHS) and Hong Kong, where the access points were put around ATMs, so you had a bunch of (poorer) people hanging around there.
You can tell this is old, not by the phones, but by the shoulder pads. And the phones.
I thought that she nipped the dress and hairdo from "Alexis Carrington".
Wow, I love old videos imagining the future, their expectations are funny, and they end up deviating from reality by a wide margin. Viewing this video in 2024 in the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence age.
I agree. Another old staple in the Tomorrow's World armoury was putting a man on Mars. Every few years there were predictions as early as the 80s or 90s and yet we can hardly get a capsule to the ISS these days.
I have the directly opposite reaction. I am quite a bit flummoxed by the prescience I see here
@@stephenguppy7882 We are currently going through a golden age of space exploration so look again. We have explored Mars, we're going back to the moon. There will be a manned mission to Mars, the artemis moon missions are the stepping stone. We have a real image of a black hole and we took samples from an asteroid travelling at thousands mph. Our space telescopes can see further than ever before in far more detail. Remote exploration makes space exploration far more feasible. We have achieved so much in modern times.
Proy: this was no 'imagining' Mobile phones had been used in the field (Army, Navy etc) for decades . . . They are just explaining how the technology will advance to make phones more accessible in every day use.
This video was recorded 11 years before I was born.
Baby
@ Even before that.
...and 39 years after I was born, am I replying to an embryo? 😊
@ Yes you are!
Incredible
I remember TW showing the Rabbit phone. (Calm down 😂)
It was a mobile but only worked in certain places where you had to find a Rabbit logo in town and stand near it.
Thanks for the laugh rabbit phone lol
@kwkw5711 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_(telecommunications)#:~:text=Rabbit%20was%20a%20British%20location,Phonepoint%2C%20Mercury%20Callpoint%20and%20Zonephone.
"...for the rest of your life."
well you can do that now if you change phones- not sure if you could do that until very recently. one reason is that although the mobile phone marjket has actually reached saturation point (ie nearly everyone has one nowadays), the constant of invention ew technology and scrapping older features means we constatntly change phone sets- and thats why we get new numbers whenever we buy a new phone
@sandmboy1 Very optional these days. I mean, I've had the same number for probably a decade now. Whereas my nephew is an annoying little turd, and changes his number all the time - every few months or so 😆
In built television screen
A smartphone that I am watching this video on
What a load of twaddle..That'll never happen
"An inbuilt television screen"? It'll never happen
This will never catch on
Why pay for an expensive phone when there are twenty five cent payphones all over the place?
@@DavidLS1Did you not already day that?
@@martytdd1606 I don't remember 'daying' that before...but maybe I did.
My mother used to fancy the male presenter when I was a little kid, Ill have to Google him as his name escapes me, but both Judith and My Mum Fancied Him were both great presenters, not idiotic, clear, informative and sensible with a sense of humour. Such a cracking show, especially the Howard Stableford and Phillippa Forester years. I guess tech has just come too advanced now to cover, and terrestrial tv isnt important anymore. Ah shame.
No one ever predicted people would have sex while on their phones
And you'll keep that same phone number for the rest of your life!
😂
There were those times where your phone cloned by hackers stealing all your infos now, QR codes are introduced(Japan uses QR codes since the late 1990s). Still skeptic if QRs are easily to be hacked otherwise, we are here anyways.
Does that CARD have Tik Tok app?
Now everybody’s talking but no one says a word
I know it was a long time ago but I couldn’t help p*ss myself laughing
She said, "The changes will happen mostly in the Networks" referring to progress in the portable phone's progress to be one of the ultimate achievements of the late Twentieth/early Twenty-first Century.
Anyone speculating on the next major transition of the physical object known as the "Smart Phone"?
im waiting to see wallave and gromit- apparantly wallace has invented a smart gnome
When the BBC learned you instead of programming you 😂
Oh the irony 😂.
“learned you”?!
What about the personal flying machines
No! They will only be smart phones :)
I will not see any of that in my life
Notice how there’s no suggestion that they needed to be subsidised with taxpayer money. So different from electric cars.
❤ wow they look like bricks
Those old cellphones look like calculators.
Wow. Did they know it would video?
I sill use them.
Yes they did
They already knew....
It won’t catch on
Actually, if they had just left as a phone,it would have been great! But no, just had to take it too far! Kids got hold of it, social media access, internet, camera, conference calling Its now an Ideal bullying and scamming weapon It’s actually difficult to get by without a smart phone now!
I agree, smartphones are sinister in my opinion, how many people have been scammed on them, answer too many. They are great when out and being able to ring someone in an emergency, but why would you need to watch videos on them or even get on the internet whilst out and about. Face x, tic tok etc are just far too dangerous and should be banned.
No mention of WhatsApp and TH-cam whatsoever.. 😂
They just described 5G! (larger number of smaller cells)
1:27 Frankenfurter
I've had at least 20 different mobile numbers, so that's false for a start.
This is where crypto is now.
Can’t see it working to be honest, how could you possibly be able to talk to someone else without a phone line plugged into your phone, you would need 100s of feet of cable trailing behind you, really these inventions are just plain crazy and I would say to any else don’t be fooled by this, what are they going to think of next
And will give scammers endless opportunity 😤😝😠
Wow. A television on a phone. Witchcraft.
It is not a 'cell' phone, it is a 'Mobile' phone, speak English
Might they have been more likely to have been called cell phones in 1989?
They used cells in prison cells. 😊
Well, we are there now but without the lifetime phone number - thankfully and the UK did not become the global leader. Still, the forecast was fairly accurate.
You can keep the same number, I’ve had the same one with three different providers.
@@ianwalshaw1274 Yes of course, here in the United States, number porting has been a thing for over 30 years. The problem is, do you want to keep the same number? Have had to change mine over the years due to telemarketers. I no longer give out my personal number to businesses and that sort of things only family and friends. Every one else gets my disposable number and e mail address.
I have the same number that I with my first mobile phone in 1996, I don’t plan on giving it up.
Think its about time the stopped calling them phones as in Australia since 3G was shut down and now only have 4&5G making a phone call unless your right near a tower is absolutely hopeless CDMA was great 3G had good range but the crap we have now is totally useless
Never gonna happen...
What on earth is he on about.. I can't see this catching on at all.
my God...those are an archaic fossyls....symbolic of an era gratefully forgotten
A television on your telephone what nonsense how can you have a television on your telephone
6
BBC English. Yars not years.
tomorrows communism
The inbuilt television screen idea is naff and will never happen.
Nah, wasn’t convinced about them then, and I’m still not now. Never had one, never will. Same with the internet thingy, never used it, never will. All you need is a good dog, a packet of ciggies and…well thats about it.