Predicting the future is hard

_" Scientists at the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problem.

With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use" _

[From 1954 Popular Mechanics Magazine, from Peter Grossman]

Late breaking news: the whole thing is an urban legend. No such photograph ever appeared in Popular Mechanics. Thanks Peter and Larry for helping me preserve my journalistic integrity.You can read all about it on the wonderful Snopes site. The big steering wheel should have been the tip-off.