[Uncle Erik]

http://smilepanic.com/what-people-in-1910-thought-the-year-2000-would-be-like

I came across this today and thought everyone would especially enjoy the first illustration.

What's surprising is how much is somewhat accurate. Seems that someone envisioned FaceTime about 100 years ago.

Though I'm not sure why they thought that everyone would still be wearing clothes from 1910.

 

[Currawong]

Interesting pictures. It's funny how they imagine many things, such as hairdressing, becoming mechanical, and the individual flying machines. I'd have to track it down, but there's a also video from the 50s talking about what technology will be like now and it is also quite accurate, describing online shopping.

 

[sanakaku]

Funny, they didn't think much about the wardrobe.

 

[Dzjudz]

The second picture looks like a Maglev

 

[wink]

I remember the old movie as a young lout called Things To Come starring Raymond Massey.
That one and The Day The Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet set me on a science fiction kick that still has me hooked.
 
Babylon 5 is the closest to any modern stuff to really grip me.
 
I'v watched all the Star Trek and Stargate stuff, V, and LOTR, but it hasn't got the same kick.
 
In sf books, the Skylark and Lensman series by E. E. Doc Smith were really addictive.
Asimov, Heinlein, Silverberg, Zelazny, Aldis, Clarke, etc were also must reads.
 
Keith Laumer was a surprise with his Reteif character.
Saberhagen was also good in his stories about the berserkers.
 
Back on topic, The Time Machine really shows how it's so hard to portray what the future will look like.
 
Also Back to the Future 2 shows how we are slaves to our past....
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

"Forbidden Planet" is a real favorite! I found it on Blu-Ray recently and have watched it a couple of times.

One favorite futurist book is Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward," first published in 1888. He predicts credit cards and gets a lot else right, too.

The best prediction I've seen is a video clip of Arthur C. Clarke made around the time Telstar went up. I tried and couldn't track it down on the phone here, but he predicts a global communication network of computers and pretty much nails it. If someone can find that clip, it's amazing. I think it's on YouTube.

 

[logwed]

I'm glad that they were quite wrong when it came to audio equipment!

 

[SpaceTimeMorph]

Quote:

The best prediction I've seen is a video clip of Arthur C. Clarke made around the time Telstar went up. I tried and couldn't track it down on the phone here, but he predicts a global communication network of computers and pretty much nails it. If someone can find that clip, it's amazing. I think it's on YouTube.
 

Not sure what the video you speak of is... but there's this.
 
 

 

[Gatepc]

Very interesting, nice find. I like the projector one, theirs a lot of cool stuff in a lot of the older popsci magazines like this. They make for interesting reads!

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

Funny, they didn't think much about the wardrobe.

loool....hey in one picture, the aviator appears to be in an aeroplane equipped with airbrakes (real genuine invention btw)

 

[JamesMcProgger]

 
what's that suppose to be? 

 

[buffalowings]

 
what's that suppose to be? 

my little pony

 

[jjinh]

There are some funny German futurist predictions here
 
Yep, I can see this happening.

 

[wink]

Metropolis...
 

 

[rehabitat]

This is a long term goal of mine

Anyone else?