The Future That Hasn't Arrived

jonerik writes "MSNBC has this article on an exhibit starting this week at Philadelphia's Lost Highways Archive and Research Library. Entitled Radebaugh: The Future We Were Promised, the exhibit focuses on the artwork of the elusive A.C. Radebaugh, a commercial illustrator whose works promised us a glittering, shiny tomorrow from the '30s to the '50s; a helicopter in every garage, massive streamlined cars, vacations on Mars - in short, pretty much everything we didn't get. The exhibit collects examples from Radebaugh's portfolio, auto designs for Chrysler, DoSoto, and Dodge, ads, and 'Closer Than We Think!,' a syndicated weekly comic strip drawn by Radebaugh. I want my jetpack, dammit!"

Comments

Re:Car Aerodynamics

[stratjakt]

In a lot of cases, what we *thought* was aerodynamic turned out to not be so once we had the computer capability to model airflow more accurately, under more realistic conditions.

What works in a windtunnel doesnt always work on the road where there may be a tailwind, side winds, etc.

I wonder

[MCZapf]

When did we start thinking about the future so much? Did people in the middle ages, for example, ever think much past the end of their own lives? I'm guessing they did, but I don't think they could have imagined a world much different than their own.

When we think of the future, we almost always think of technology. We think of starships and other things that are waaaaaay far off, so maybe the industrial revolution spurred this new way of thinking. Anyway, I'm justing typing randomly. I'll bet some historian will tell me I'm totally wrong.

Re:I wonder

[sbaker]

In the middle ages, the world would have seemed to be utterly unchanged - for the previous few centuries at least. In that situation, why would you ever expect change? Predicting a very different future back then would have been just silly.

We have seen such spectacular growth in just about every part of life in perhaps two lifetimes - we now see life in terms of change. Shall I buy an ATI Radion 9700 graphics card - or should I wait a few months and get an nVidia GeForceFX? (Oh - wait...bad example!)

I expect change - I *rely* on change. Predicting the future is now a survival trait and humans are nothing if not adaptable when it comes to surviving.

We have codified change into things like Moores Law. We are suprised and perhaps even a little fearful when things don't change fast enough (see dozens of /. articles about the immenent failure of Moores Law for example).

Actually, I think what's most interesting about this exhibit is just how LITTLE change he predicted. Cars still have enormous chrome fins - people still dress exactly the same as they did in the 30's, 40's and 50's - everyone still commutes to work. For us, looking at these, we see a weird mix of antique design with machines and buildings that we still havn't managed to engineer.

Re:I wonder

[glenebob]

"When did we start thinking about the future so much?"

Hmmm probably right about the time we started to feel the pressure of day-to-day life. We're pretty good at imagining the good parts of the future and pretty bad at imagining the complications. In other words, a long long long long time ago.

Certainly we were looking to the future long before the middle ages. Christianity, for example, is based on the hope for a better future; specifically on the hope that a saviour will change things for the better. Apparently there was a common belief that life could be better.

"When we think of the future, we almost always think of technology ... so maybe the industrial revolution spurred this new way of thinking."

It isn't really a different way of thinking, it's just that technology has largely replaced magic and other nebulous things as the future improvent of choice. I think that shift to technology likely did happen during the industrial revolution because that is the time that technological advances started coming at a rate noticable to the common person.

I find it interesting that we continue to look to the future for improvement in our day to day lives, even though technological improvement has almost exclusively resulted in a more complicated life style, the oposite of what we hope for. It always lets us down at the most basic level.

What happened to fly cars and *

[Demon-Xanth]

Next time you're driving around, note the number of cars driving like idiots, barely running, NOT running, and with dents.... ...now put them above your house.

You wanna keep them on the ground now don't you?

Re:Those futures aren't worth complaining

[stoolpigeon]

I think about that every time I read a Heinlein novel where people are flying all over the universe in space ships and using slide rules to check their navigation.

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Disneyland, Take Notes!

[Mr. Fusion]

Has anyone noticed that "Tomorrowland" in Disneyland is starting to looking like, well, yesterday? Many of the attractions are either outdated (Astro Orbitor), closed down (RocketRods), or just altogether too plain (Innoventions). Space Mountain is great for thrill seekers and my personal favorite, but wasn't Tommorrowland supposed to show off the crazy inventions of the future?

Yesterland is a good place to see all the old, semi-forgotten attractions that seemed ahead of its time. Anyone remember those hovercraft bumper cars?.

Plus, Disney's got plenty of room to play around with right now. The old CircleVision attraction, the building right across from Star Tours, has been closed for a while and just sits there, probably only being used for storage. And whatever happened to those submarines in the lake?

Disney, take heed! Don't just devote an attraction to the newest technologies. The industry moves too fast these days to keep up. Instead, why not show mock-ups of these sorts of retro-tractions? I can think of a ton of cool interactive exhibits they could produce (think Jetsons), even with their cost-cutting mantra of recent. Now if only they'd bring back those RocketRods!

-Mr. Fusion

Did our future get lawyered away?

[theonetruekeebler]

The flying car went the way that civil aviation in general is heading: sued out of existence, or prevented from moving forward due to the prospect of being sued out of existence.

Progress is dangerous. If I make a product that will kill one user in a million, and everyone in America buys one, I'll face two hundred and eighty wrongful death suits, class action suits, branding as a mass murderer, and ghod help me if one of those failures happens during sweeps week.

Flying is fairly simple, but the consequences of error are rather specatular.

Cars were invented before lawsuits were so widespread; this is part of the reason Ford isn't bankrupt from all the innocent bystanders crossing the street in front of their potentially lethal products.

But the tort system in America is biased towards the right to be stupid and my obligation to accomodate your stupidity regardless of what you're doing with my product. So no, I'm sure as hell not going to build you a flying car just so you can sue me when you fuck up.

Re:Car Aerodynamics

[HermanZA]

According to the Ford company, a pickup's aerodynamics is better with the tailgate on. With the gate on, you get a bubble of air behind the cab. With the gate off, this bubble gets deflated, resulting in more turbulance and more drag.

Re: Read this essay by Bertrand Russell

[benzapp]

I think this essay by the great Bertrand Russell not only outlines the historical point you have made, but why the cult of efficiency and productivity which infects our society is so destructive and devisive.

Perhaps you read it, but for those out there who have not quite realized that the promise of technology, more free time, has not materialized, please read this essay.