A reader writes:
Given your extremely literate and hip readership, I'm sure you've already gotten this from at least a few people, but just in case: David Foster Wallace pretty much called this one in
Infinite Jest. There's a hilarious extended digression in which the narrator goes into great detail to tell the reader why, even though the story is set in the future, people are still using plain old telephones. The gist is that, once upon a time, someone invented videophony chatting. People liked it at first, but eventually we started feeling more and more self-conscious about our appearance on the phone. One thing led to another and companies started manufacturing masks for people to wear. These masks became more and more realistic until eventually the whole point of talking to someone via videophony become a lost exercise. Hence, everyone went back to the telephone.
I found a post from Jason Kottke that provides a few excerpts, and the pages from the text that the story occurs on. It really is one of the funniest passages in the book.
Rest assured that we won't be adding celebrity filters to our new video feature.
The Dish 