AT&T Predicted The Future In These 1993 Ads - And Another Thing Is About To Come True

"Have you ever borrowed a book from thousands of miles away?" asks AT&T...

In 2007, the answer became yes. Amazon introduced the Kindle, allowing people to easily download books. Amazon has a Kindle lending library that lets users share certain books. You can also download books to rent from your local library.

"Cross the country without stopping for directions," says AT&T.

This is about as commonplace as it gets. In 1993, navigation systems were being tested in cars. They became the norm in the 2000s, and now every smartphone has turn-by-turn directions.

Sent someone a fax from the beach?

AT&T was half right here. We suppose you could send a fax from the beach, but why? Email is better and just as easy from the beach.

"Have you ever paid a toll without slowing down," asked AT&T...

This one was a lay up for AT&T since the New York Metro area was already testing E-ZPass. Nowadays it's weirder when someone stops to pay a toll.

"Bought concert tickets from a cash machine..." promises AT&T.

We've never done this. We suppose it's possible. But, really, people are buying their tickets online, which is similar.

Or tucked your baby in from a payphone...

That one was a little self-serving. Payphones are dead. But Skype and FaceTime make the same thing possible.

Have you ever opened doors with your voice?

We hope you don't try this one because you'll look weird. This is the only flop we can think of in the bunch. However, with the Internet of Things, people are opening their phones with their smartphones, and in the near future voice could be used.

Carried your medical history in your wallet.

Some people keep their medical history on little USB plugs that they carry around. For the most part this hasn't happened, but medical records are going online. And Apple is reportedly about to start logging health data with the iPhone.

Attended a meeting in your bare feet...

Lots and lots of people work remotely nowadays. This is no biggie.

Have you ever watched the movie you wanted to, the minute you wanted to?

Only every night of the week through Netflix, Amazon Instant Prime, iTunes, and HBOGO.

Or gotten a phone call on your wrist?

We have a lot of smart watches that do that, and now we're about to have the iWatch which might be able to do that.

Here's the whole set of ads ...