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The Future That Hasn't Arrived

Posted by timothy on from the would-settle-for-unlimited-cell-minutes dept.

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!"

4 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Car Aerodynamics by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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 don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  2. I wonder by MCZapf · · Score: 5, Interesting
    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.

  3. What happened to fly cars and * by Demon-Xanth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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?

    --
    If you think education is expensive, you should try ignorance -- Derek Bok, president of Harvard
  4. Re:Those futures aren't worth complaining by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    .

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?