Colliers did an incredible article back in September of 1954 on "Stereatronics"... The word never took off, mainly cause the writer spun the term as a "fancy" way to refer to solid state electronics. Back in 54, solid state was the new, cutting edge concept. Transistorized radios, and such, but manufacturers were researching many potential applications, and quite frankly, the article delves into an incredible vision of where the industry believed the technology would eventually lead int he future. While there are CERTAINLY a few dud predictions... like the "Irradiated Food Locker"
they got a LOT of it
RIGHT!
The thing that stood out as the most poignant shocker in their disturbingly accurate vision of the future, was a GE television concept that used an early concept of EL lighting, with a grid of fine wires to form the pixel matrix. The pixel matrix was scanned just like in a modern OLED display to excite the phosphorescent element at the point of intersection. It looks almost identical to my Samsung LCD, just playing an old sepia toned movie. It looks like there are some manner of ventilation openings at the top and bottom, and quite frankly, I can't tell if that was a mockup for the photo, or it it was real or not... Regardless, they had the right idea, and the prediction is one of the most stunning I've ever seen! I own an original copy of the magazine... Cigarette and booze adds... and the most accurate future tech prediction I've ever witnessed. They go into a lot of projections, and truthfully, a lot of them actually DID end up happening! Solar powered homes, inductive charging/power, automatic garage door openers, child monitors, door cameras, remote controlled toys, remote controls for the TV, flat panel TVs that could be hung on the wall, VCRs, automated HVAC, automated lawn watering, solid state lighting, miniaturized hearing aids... and more. they call item #18 on page 69 a "computer", but I actually am quite familiar with that particular design... It's a prototype electronic calculator, made in 1954. It's crude, but that is actually what it is! Number entry is actually by means of a ROTARY telephone dial, and a rotary switch to select the digit place. It consists of a couple of decade counters with a carry function.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/how-solid-state-electronics-will-change-your-life/