Vintage ad shows electronic mail as the wave of the future (at least until you start getting spammed)

Via Gizmodo.

Seriously though, that dude looks like he just shit his pants because apparently Tinkerbelle is delivering his mail. It's amusing seeing what was then a major tech company running an ad for email, but the way the ad describes it, makes email really much more appealing than it is now. Back then, it was a useful method to keep all departments of a corporation in-touch and informed, but nowadays it's mostly just spam and social media notifications.

I like the way the artist set the desk and office up, it looks exactly what an office back then would look like. It presents an interesting contrast with the ad's pronouncement of the "Office of the Future". He has a stapler and a tape dispenser, both of which would likely be rendered obsolete in the Office of the Future and eventually in real life, since physical paperwork is probably dwindling in the age of tablets and touch screens. I don't know whether they still use corded phones (though, all the TV shows and movies seem to think so), but that one right there is outdated as hell. The two (three?) picture frames are a nice touch, but is that an ashtray in front of the double picture frame, though?

All in all, it's a nice snapshot of what a typical 1970s office probably looked like.