Past visions of the future - Where's my damn jetpack?

[beer good]

So I saw this article:

How the world of 1950 looked in 1925

Which is actually one of the more realistic depictions of what The Future will look like that I've seen. Sure, we never had airships landing in the middle of cities, but... high-rises, underground garages, underground trains, all pretty much standard in a lot of cities today. As for roads dedicated only to pedestrians and cars driving underground... kinda? Most European cities I've been to have areas that are more or less restricted to pedestrians and tunnels for cars to get through certain parts of the city, at least.

Still, a lot of people predicting the future, from journalists to politicians to SF writers, had more fun than that. So, what's the invention everyone said we'd have by 1985 that you're still waiting for, and what do you have now that nobody ever expected to become a household item?

 

[753C]

Ray Gun

 

[sparkchaser]

Flying cars and fembots.

 

[Paul the Human]

They actually did create successful jet-packs... but it turns out they aren't as cool, or as practical, as we hoped.

I'm still waiting for holographic television.

 

[Sneezy]

Cherry2000

 

[Cosimah2o]

I thought about a hydrometeor vehicle - made by a yellow mass of liquid droplets and frozen crystals- . This vehicle wouldn't emit greenhouse gases because it doesn't need any combustion engine fuel or keys and only could be driven by mind power ....

​

Kinton Lainoa :whistling: The best way for collecting rocks/fossils overhead of cliffs without a scratch !!

 

[eclair]

Hoverboards.
Teleportation.

What do you have now that nobody ever expected to become a household item?

Portable GPS car navigation systems, perhaps?

 

[beer good]

Turns out people did anticipate e-readers way back in 1935:


GPS is definitely one of those things I don't think I've ever seen in speculation or fiction until they existed. Another very ordinary thing - the ATM. For all the cityscapes of flying cars and houses with their own nuclear reactors, you rarely see someone just walk up to a hole in the wall and withdraw cash. (Of course, in 10 years you won't see that anymore anyway, but...) Also, note how all those visions of the 2000s published in the 1950s still have men smoking pipes and women living in the kitchen...

 

[direstraits]

I think nobody expected the tablet to be mainstream here so late! But it is now, and I like it.

I was kinda hoping that traffic jams would be the thing of the past by now, actually. But urban infrastructure is a harder beast to tackle in a society that has to balance the cash with other more pressing or high-profile projects.

I'm also sad that we don't have personal computer devices that you carry around in your pocket, and you can plug it into computer consoles which would immediately load your computing environment. Kinda like the Motorola Atrix, except the monitor and keyboard docks (computer terminals) would be as ubiquitous as telephones - in offices and in public places. You're essentially carrying your computer with you everywhere you go, and can hook up anywhere to work/play.

The idea of the Atrix is really ahead of its time, and yet could not come soon enough.

GPS is definitely one of those things I don't think I've ever seen in speculation or fiction until they existed.

Star Trek has this, right? Didn't they consult their tricorders when they teleported into an alien ship and went 'This way to the engine room!', or 'turn left for the men's room!', etc?

 

[beer good]

I'm also sad that we don't have personal computer devices that you carry around in your pocket, and you can plug it into computer consoles which would immediately load your computing environment.

Isn't that what we call smartphones and Google docs?

The Pub Of The Future!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSFZ_Yn6Yys

 

[sparkchaser]

And cell phones. Nobody saw those coming.

 

[Hugh]

Back when CDs first came out for music, circa 1983, I predicted that they would soon be replaced with an electronic chip that would be plugged into a music player. My line of thinking was that the moving parts of a CD player would soon become obsolete. So I didn't exactly see the Ipod, but I wasn't that far off.

 

[Sneezy]

And cell phones. Nobody saw those coming.

Mark Cooper did in the late '60s.

He knew that if he could get people an affordable way to communicate while in motion it would change the world.

 

[Lovecraftian]

When personal computers first came out they were horribly expensive, and now most households have more than one.

 

[Paul the Human]

It amuses me that the "Star Trek Communicator" was once thought of as science fiction. Now... it is completely obsolete compared to my Droid Razr. I even have a "working" Tricorder app. Ha!

 

[direstraits]

Paul, how're you liking Gardens of the Moon? (yes, a thread hijack! Whoo hooo!)

 

[Paul the Human]

I'm really enjoying it. I'm almost half-way through it, so I'm finally beginning to be able to follow what's going on. Heheh.

I've actually taken a break from Gardens of the Moon, because a friend of mine has lent me his hardcover copy of Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and I have been itching to read that, so I'll get back to the Malazan books once I finish that one.

 

[Will]

Gardens of the Moon. So damn good. So involving, rich, dark, dangerous, passionate, cool, moody.... I keep meaning to try and give the second book a shot again, but just can't bring myself to with so much other stuff to read...

 

[eclair]

Putting on your Ray Kurzweil hats, and assuming Snooki's baby is not going to be the Antichrist who brings about the end of days, what will 2050 look like?

 

[sparkchaser]

Grimdark with the United States collapsing and bringing down the rest of the world with it.