20 ways the future let us down

[k4kyv]

Promises, promises; when I was young, the future was an exciting place, full of wonderful inventions, mind-boggling concepts and amazing occurrences.

The problem is that, as it stands, this future lark is all a bit, well, disappointing.

http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=7176637

[K7JEM]

A lot of the stuff listed was never anything but science fiction. Either that, or impractical.

The few things that were achievable had other problems that made them expensive or otherwise undesirable.

Joe

[kc2orw]

Besides a great number of things did become a reality, just that they aren't free

[kd7gwd]

The Human Race just can't develop the technology as fast as the science fiction writers can dream it up .

Realistically , who would of thought in 1808 when most regular people had to work really hard just to eke out a living , that we would be where we are in 2008 with people having lots of spare time and a hard days work doesn't involve most of the population http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[K7JEM]

Talk about the things we did get. Handheld personal communicators that allow us to speak with virtually anyone on earth in a matter of seconds, flat TV sets that hang on a wall like a picture frame, computers that are beyond anything ever imagined, in terms of storage and processing power, medical devices to replace hands and arms, ears and hearts.

The list goes on and on. Things we take for granted today were never thought possible in the 50's or 60's.

Joe

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (k4kyv @ Jan. 10 2008,07:28)]Promises, promises; when I was young, the future was an exciting place, full of wonderful inventions, mind-boggling concepts and amazing occurrences.

The problem is that, as it stands, this future lark is all a bit, well, disappointing.

http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=7176637
I remember reading a Popular Science magazine back in the mid 60s. They said by 1975 all highways would have 120 mph speed limits. Yeah right....most idiots have a hard time keeping a car on the road at 55!

eric

[KG6YTZ]

Quote[/b] (kl7aj @ Jan. 10 2008,08:21)]I remember reading a Popular Science magazine back in the mid 60s. #They said by 1975 all highways would have 120 mph speed limits. #Yeah right....most idiots have a hard time keeping a car on the road at 55!
We were all supposed to have telephone chips implanted in our skulls by now, too, but the best we've been able to do so far is just to have telephones glued to our ears. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

How come I'm not flying my rocket car to my office on the moon?

[k4kyv]

It's a mixed bag. Some of the gadgets of to-day far surpass even the science fiction of the mid 20th century.

Some of the things George Orwell predicted (the surveillance society) have come to pass pretty much exactly. The main thing he missed was the timing, by about 15 years.

OTOH, during the Apollo missions, while we were viewing the first run of 2001 Space Odyssey, who would have thought that once we beat the Russians and made it to the moon, been there, done that, that 35 years later, humans would not have once again set foot beyond low earth orbit?

What about the 50's era predictions that by now we would have once and for all found a cure for cancer and heart disease?

And those promises that by now, advances in technology would have so greatly increased worker productivity that the average work week would be only 15-20 hours?

And don't forget that by the beginning of the 21st century, the average human lifespan was supposed to be 100 years or more.

[kd5kfl]

If you ever go to a 4 10 hour day schedule you will not want to go back.