How could Instagram exist without smartphones? Quite easily, it seems.
In the YouTube video series "Wonders of the World Wide Web," your favorite photo-sharing service is imagined in the nightmarish old school tech heyday of the '80s.
Here's how it would work: You would mail in your film roll with a completed Instagram form (free at the local gas station). The form asks you to choose effects, such as sepia, monochrome or 8-bit blurry. In a few weeks, your pictures would arrive digitized on a cassette, then you could view them instantly(!) on your PC.
Of course, the trademark Instagram filters would still be available, but now they make your low-res '80s photos even uglier than they already were.
What's next in this alternate '80s universe? According to the retro announcer in the video, "Computer glasses you can connect to your own mobile phone." Sign us up.
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