You Will Never Guess What AT&T’s Videophone Sold For In 1992

Remember, cell phones were still a nascent gadget that not everyone owned, and it was still a decade away from coming equipped with a camera. There was no such thing as Skype, Zoom, or Facetime that let people easily “reach out and touch someone” in real time while talking with them. It was, quite simply, revolutionary tech for the time.

Unfortunately, it cost an arm and a leg. And maybe a few fingers. Initially, the unit sold for $1,599.99. But it was completely useless without someone having another VideoPhone on the other end. But hey, AT&T went the extra mile and conveniently dropped the price by $150 each if you bought two or more of these buggers. Another option, according to CNN Business, was that you could rent one for $30 a day. If people had that kind of money, they could buy it outright.

Some of the marketing material for the VideoPhone 2500 touted a “Self View” button that allowed the user to see how they would look to your other party before initiating the call. Imagine actually caring about how you look before initiating a video call. Preposterous!

AT&T stopped selling the VideoPhone two years later due to lack of demand (via CNN).