Back in 1969 RCA made an attempt at a high-end TV that was a vision of the sets of the year 2000. The Two Thousand was even made in a limited run of 2,000 and cost $2,000. That's around $12,000 in today's money, but for that price you got a 23-inch Hi-Lite tube that had "such a vivid, detailed picture" you could "even watch it in a brightly-lit room." There were even "computer-like "memory circuits" that stored your fave channels, and preserved settings for volume and picture control. That must've seemed like the future indeed in an era of dial-twiddle-tuning to find the right VHF channel. The full advert page makes fascinating reading.

"No motors, no noise and no moving parts to wear out," just computer-designed "electronic memories"... fabulous, especially since I remember hunkering down before our old TV to swirl the dial. My Dad used to get me to change the channels, as a kind of intelligent remote control. Nowadays my cat brushes past the touch-controls on my flat-screen LCD TV and does that job for me. [Paleofuture via Boing Boing Gadgets]