A newly resurfaced archive clip from the BBC’s long-running technology program “Tomorrow’s World” offers a fascinating snapshot of what people thought the future of photography would look like and why certain surefire ideas ultimately failed.

Titled “Whatever Happened to the Cameras of the Future?” , the 1990 segment revisits several photographic technologies that had once been promoted as revolutionary breakthroughs, including digital still cameras, 3D photography systems, autofocus lenses, and disposable cameras.

More than three decades later, the retrospective has become unintentionally revealing.…