Of course, as we all know the service was a flop. At $16 for three minutes of video calling, Picturephone was prohibitively expensive. Despite pumping millions of dollars into the effort, Bell could never get any traction. Mod II released in 1969 also failed to capture anything more than the imagination and a corporate videoconferencing descendant also proved to be too costly. Others tried and failed as well, it wasn't until decades later that Skype finally seemed to make video calling a practical proposition. Still, if you're wondering where the whole thing got its start, you need look no further than Queens, just a few minutes walk from where the New York Mets make their home.