Author Topic: Life in 2008  (Read 531 times)

Offline Sandman

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Life in 2008
« on: August 24, 2008, 08:36:46 PM »
Forty years ago, this was the prediction of how we would live in 2008.

They missed the mark by quite a bit I think.

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/03/24/what-will-life-be-like-in-the-year-2008/
sand

Offline dkff49

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2008, 08:41:48 PM »
The one thing that has proven itself time and time again is that humans are completely unable to tell very far into the future.
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Offline Masherbrum

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2008, 09:51:23 PM »
I wouldn't say they were entirely wrong.   They nailed these:

Computers also handle travel reservations, relay telephone messages, keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, compute taxes and even figure the monthly bills for electricity, water, telephone and other utilities. Not every family has its private computer. Many families reserve time on a city or regional computer to serve their needs. The machine tallies up its own services and submits a bill, just as it does with other utilities.

Money has all but disappeared. Employers deposit salary checks directly into their employees’ accounts. Credit cards are used for paying all bills. Each time you buy something, the card’s number is fed into the store’s computer station. A master computer then deducts the charge from your bank balance.

Computers not only keep track of money, they make spending it easier. TV-telephone shopping is common. To shop, you simply press the numbered code of a giant shopping center. You press another combination to zero in on the department and the merchandise in which you are interested. When you see what you want, you press a number that signifies “buy,” and the household computer takes over, places the order, notifies the store of the home address and subtracts the purchase price from your bank balance. Much of the family shopping is done this way. Instead of being jostled by crowds, shoppers electronically browse through the merchandise of any number of stores."


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Offline DiabloTX

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2008, 03:42:25 AM »
Even Arthur C. Clarke was way off the mark.

We still have yet to go back to the moon, much less Jupiter.
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Offline sprattjack

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2008, 04:56:52 AM »
ed harris vs. matthew mcconaughey

who wins sig rights this week, diablo?

Offline DiabloTX

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2008, 05:51:30 AM »
Send me enough money and I'll put RPM's quote back in.
"There ain't no revolution, only evolution, but every time I'm in Denmark I eat a danish for peace." - Diablo

Offline deSelys

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2008, 08:59:54 AM »
TBH, the article was "dated" Nov. 18, 2008.

Maybe we'll get the 250 MPH air cushion cars, underwater holiday resorts and passengers rocket transportation in the next 3 months...<crossing fingers>
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Offline Dux

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2008, 09:04:31 AM »
Whether they "nailed it" or not, I don't care... I love these old predictions of the future (retro-futurism).

Thanks for the post!
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Offline Anaxogoras

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #8 on: August 25, 2008, 09:10:07 AM »
I am very thankful their predictions did not come true.  Can anyone say "Brave New World?"

Or maybe they did. :noid
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Offline Fulmar

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2008, 09:16:10 AM »
I am very thankful their predictions did not come true.  Can anyone say "Brave New World?"

Or maybe they did. :noid
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Offline Hangtime

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #10 on: August 25, 2008, 09:23:51 AM »
interesting how 'cheap oil' screwed the transportation pooch. A big chunk of the rest of the technology speculated on seems to be available... service robots, modular homes, flat screen TV's, tablet laptops, etc.

Dux: For an real 'smile' and a 'look back, forward'  read some old Heinlein SF..  'The Door Into Summer' is a good one.
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Offline Mickey1992

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #11 on: August 25, 2008, 09:27:46 AM »
"With the U.S. population having soared to 350 million"

Unless they were overestimating the increase in Central/South American immigration, I wonder why this number was far too large?

Offline Fulmar

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2008, 09:34:21 AM »
"With the U.S. population having soared to 350 million"

Unless they were overestimating the increase in Central/South American immigration, I wonder why this number was far too large?
Families were larger 'back in the day', especially after the Baby Boomers.
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Offline clerick

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #13 on: August 25, 2008, 09:51:13 AM »
I don't think that they were too far off.  While we may not have some of these things at the moment, just look at how close we have come.

Richard Branson is close to recreational space flight. 
There are actually "resorts" where you can stay underwater, though not on the scale implied in the article.
We do have TVs that take up an entire wall.

Sadly i feel that our desire to achieve these things has left us.  There was a time where people were fascinated with the future and what it could bring.  We tended to look at the fantastic. Let's go to the Moon! WTF? Thats insane! Yet in a short period of time we did the unthinkable.  Now we are content to see who gets kicked off the island next or, gossip about which celebrity is in rehab.  We've become lazy.  We take technology for granted. The only unknowns that we seem to want to explore these days are the manuals for our IPhones.  Why would a manufacturer put hard money into R&D for a 150mph air car when people are content driving a 75mph POS from Korea?

Where has the fantasy gone? When did we become so serious?

Offline indy007

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Re: Life in 2008
« Reply #14 on: August 25, 2008, 09:57:24 AM »
Actually it's kinda cool how much he got right. Computers, money, off-shore farming, pre-fab modular homes, home studying, not far from 3d TVs, space tourism, medical advances... all are either already here, or rapidly growing.