Episode
MacVoices #26250: Foreshadowing Tech - The Fictional Constructs That Inspired Real-World Communication Technologies (1)
- Podcast
- MacVoices
- Published
- Sep 7, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2158
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Summary
As we approach the release of the newest iPhones, Chuck Joiner , Marty Jencius, and Jeff Gamet look at how science fiction and popular culture imagined modern communication long before the technology existed. From early video-phone concepts and Dick Tracy to Star Trek, Get Smart, Space: 1999, and more, the panel examine fictional devices that anticipated smartphones, wearables, Bluetooth earbuds, video calls, authentication, mobile computing, and maybe even foreshadow what's coming next. (Part 1) Today's MacVoices is supported by TV+ Talk , our MacVoices series with Charlotte Henry focused on Apple TV+. From shows and other content to the business side there's always something to learn about apple's streaming service. Find it at the Categories listings on the web site or go directly to macvoices.com/category/tv-talk Show Notes: Chapters: 01:31 Introducing Jeff Gamet and Marty Jencius 02:47 Communication Devices and the Origins of Modern Tech 03:13 Early Cell Phones, The X-Files, and Mobile Communication 05:12 Car Phones, Batman, and The Magician 06:22 Communication Predictions from the 1800s and Early 1900s 07:28 E.M. Forster's Remarkably Prescient Connected World 09:08 Metropolis and Early Video Phones 09:59 Hugo Gernsback and Wireless Video Telephony 11:01 The Jetsons and Star Trek Video Phones 12:54 Forbidden Planet and Its Influence on Star Trek 14:45 Lost in Space and Early Visions of Future Technology 16:51 Which Came First: Fiction or Technology? 17:18 Get Smart's Shoe Phone and Wearable Technology 18:13 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Pen Communicator 19:47 Space: 1999 and the Comlock 21:35 Why the Comlock Resembles the Modern iPhone 23:01 The iPhone vs. the Star Trek Tricorder 25:03 How Fiction Imagined Wearable Communication Devices 25:50 Babylon 5 and Hand-Mounted C…