British magazine envisioned Zoom calls way back in 1934 — and even came up with a super weird name for it

It is intriguing to see how different ideas that people thought of in the past as mere possibilities have become a reality in today’s world. Take Zoom calls, which have become vital to our professional lives. In 1934, a weekly British science fiction magazine published a remarkable illustration of a future invention that looked and felt much like present-day Zoom calls, according to an account on X called Pulp Librarian (@PulpLibrarian). Published under a column called "Ideas for Inventors," the weekly magazine Scoops even came up with a unique name for it—"Intramural Television." 

The magazine from 1934 wondered if we could live in a world where we could interact with different professionals through their screens and make people's lives easier. "Can it be done?" the illustration read. A salesperson seemed to be talking to a receptionist or secretary, wanting to share a proposal with her boss, Mr. Brown. The woman replied, "I am sorry, but Mr. Brown isn't interested." The man would have gone back empty-handed and wasted their time. However, in another scenario, they could talk through a television first and decide if a person's proposal was worth seeing and if they should come in or not.

On the call, the salesperson told Mr. Brown, "And so this would increase your sales by at least 50%. Can you spare a few minutes?" In this scenario, Mr. Brown could see and hear the other person and his proposal through his screen. Based on that, he would have decided if he wanted to discuss it further. "Your proposition sounds good. Come in," Mr. Brown told the representative through the screen after listening to his proposal. Through this, the sales representative could go in with an assurance that the company was at least somewhat interested in his proposal and that he was not just wasting time with a quick conversation through the screen.

The British magazine called the invention "Intramural Television." They suggested, "Why not speed up interviews within busy business offices with the above-illustrated television device with which executives establish almost personal contact with callers, salesmen and others?" The illustration went on to add, "[The] Image and voice of the executive in the outer office are received by the caller and vice versa. Can it be done?" The post garnered people's attention online and received more than 6,000 views.

In another similar story, a newspaper article from 1963 predicted the invention of mobile phones. The clipping was shared by the X page, @asIiceofhistory, where the headline of the old story read, "You'll be able to carry your phone in your pocket in the future." The article predicted that such an invention could come into being in the future, but it was quite far off now and only in the developmental stages. "Right now, it's a laboratory development and it's workable, allowing the carrier to make and answer calls wherever he may be." They also predicted that future telephones will have "kitchen loud-speaking" and "visual image" phones. The article detailed the purpose of each device and revealed that they are being displayed at the "Home and Flower Show Coliseum."