“Scientists from the Rand Corporation have created this model to show how a home computer will look like in the year 2004. However, the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use.”

This image, supposedly from Popular Mechanics magazine, allegedly shows a 1954 scientists’ impression of how home computers might look in 2004.

In fact, it’s a doctored picture of a submarine control room, submitted as part of an image modification contest and then circulated in an Internet hoax.

The hoax fooled more than a few IT gurus, including Lotus founder Mitch Kapor, and Chief Executive of Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy. Whoops.