The caption reads: "Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could 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 actually 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."
It's also likely that you know that the photo is a fake. Here's what Popular Mechanics (the real magazine) had to say about the picture, and its history:
"Fictitious '54 Home Computer"
Popular Mechanics (December 9, 2004)
"NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2004--Those co-workers who constantly clutter your inbox with e-mail forwards aren't the only ones who have fallen for a recent Internet hoax involving a fictitious 1954 POPULAR MECHANICS article. It appears two savvy software CEOs...."
Update (August 26, 2010)
The Popular Mechanics article is no longer available on the PM website, but exist as as a copy on "Computers of a Bygone Era:" www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/info_and_tech/computer_1950.htm.
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