Todat, smart assistants and home automation are old hat. You think nothing of connecting to your thermostat or doorbell with your phone. You’ve probably used a voice assistant for everything from settling bets to opening your garage door. The connected world has been with us for about six years at this point. Or has it been longer?
It turns out that home automation has been around longer than you think. And, thanks to YouTuber “Avboden,” we have the receipts to prove it.
Take a look at this
This YouTube video shows a working home automation system complete with touchscreen video, installed way back in 1985. The video was shot recently and clearly there have been updates to the system since the copyright date on the monitor is 1990. The video dates back to 2015 but there’s a comment saying that the system is still in use in 2021.
Was it even possible, or is this a hoax?
If it’s a hoax, it’s a very well-perpetrated one. There’s a comment from someone who claims to be the original system designer. There’s nothing in the video that looks out of place for a system that age, from the fonts used to the authentic CRT monitor. It’s a little surprising that there isn’t any burn-in on the screen and the green color looks a little too saturated. But, those are easily explained: I imagine that the system’s screen turns off when not in use. After all, computer designers were very familiar with CRT burn-in and would have done something to avoid it. And as for the high contrast, it could just be due to the fact that the CRT is the only light source in the frame. In other words, it’s possible.
In fact, I do believe that all the technologies you see here were possible back in the 1980s, although all the interfaces must have been customized and there’s no doubt that a system like this was very very expensive. It must have been a little frustrating to use at the time because touch screen technology was in its infancy. But, when you’re essentially just pushing one button at a time it seems to have worked pretty well.
This was on my mind back then
Back in 1985 I was way too poor to even walk into a store where something like this would have been sold, but I certainly imagined the possibilities. I clearly remember thinking about home automation at that time. However, I wasn’t forward enough to think of the touch screen. I imagined a console full of physical buttons. In my mind, there was a blueprint of the house etched into brass with push buttons at every outlet and an LED to indicate on or off. While that certainly wasn’t as advanced as what you see in this video, it would have been cheaper and probably look cooler today.
Today, this level of home automation (and much more) is achievable by almost anyone with just a minimal investment. Back then, it was so rare that most people hadn’t imagined it. It sort of makes you wonder where we will be in another 40 years.
