Tomorrow’s World From 1969: The Future of Banking

Dec 08 2011

Tomorrow’s World From 1969: The Future of Banking

I’ve got a thing for retro visions of the future – especially ones that basically came true. This BBC mini-documentary from December, 1969 describes a future where cash transactions and bounced checks go the way of the dodo bird and preventative bloodletting. “Computerised credit card machines will be able to transfer funds directly from the customer’s account to that of the shop, while computerised banks will see a reduction in queues and less of a need to be tied to branch opening times,” it says.

I suffer from a Stockholm-sized empathetic response, and I have to say that I was so taken with this video that I thought, “whoa that would be so cool,” — while my bank account was open in another tab.

The documentary suggests, though, that bounced checks, robbery and fraud will be a thing of the past. I think we all know now that wherever money changes hands, there will be someone to trying to steal it. Whenever we think of a rosy new application for a distant future, we never seem to come up with the underbelly – the Nigerian spam scams, the hackers, the ATM skimmers.

I think about this a lot in my role here at Time Warner Cable. People want to be able to watch any content, anytime, on any device, and we’re working really hard both technologically and at the negotiating table to make that happen. I wonder, though, what the underbelly of that future is. Any suggestions? If so, let me know in the comments.

Categories: Broadband Penetration/Deployment, Content Delivery, Cool Stuff, Future of the Industry

3 Comments »

Pin It

Comments for this post are closed – all comment threads close after 14 days from the original post date.

If you are having trouble or need assistance with your phone, cable, or broadband service, please contact our Online Care Team at twcable.help@twcable.com, or at @twcablehelp on Twitter.

3 Responses to “Tomorrow’s World From 1969: The Future of Banking”

Joshua Weaver
Dec 08, 2011
at 7:01 pm

I think maybe access DVR features from maybe your Web browser ( a la Whole House DVR we have, but for people who would want to watch it on the laptop ). Honestly, that would be cool feature to have I think.
Jack
Dec 09, 2011
at 10:30 pm

My interest is for the future of DVR technology,

The ability to have “My Services” store your Shows, Series, and Box Settings. So that in the event a customers’ box craps out and they have to swap it out, they can somehow have “My Services” remember what was on the swapped out box.

Than, customers would be able to transfer box settings, programs, and favorite channels, from one box to the next because “My Services” would function as a hard drive “back up!” Or, when the new box is activated at the head-end, it brings the settings, recordings, and favorite channels with it from the back up sever to the box. No more lost recordings or settings!
Christy
Jan 08, 2012
at 9:25 am

This article seems to get at your question to some degree: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/editorial-whats-wrong-with-tv-and-what-it-might-take-to-chang/.