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Throwback Thursday: AT&T VideoPhone 2500

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 6:58PM EST
BGR

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To celebrate the arrival of Skype’s mobile video chat on the iPhone 4, today’s Throwback Thursday looks back fondly on another ultimately fruitless attempt to popularize video calling: the AT&T VideoPhone 2500. AT&T had swung and missed with video calling before, but the introduction of the VideoPhone 2500 in 1992 would be the home run the company had been waiting for. Costing just $1,599.99 per phone or $1,449.99 each if you bought two or more, this puppy was going to bring video calling to the eager masses. Grandparents would be able to see their precious little grandchildren from across the country, workaholic dads would be able to video-call their kids before bedtime, tweens would be able to take sexting to the next uncomfortable level… wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little. But alas, no one wanted to pay an arm and a leg for a video phone, no one wanted to cough up between $30 and $90 each month for video calling, and in the end, no one was really interested in the service at all once the novelty wore off — just like we’re seeing today with mobile video chat.

BGR’s Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.