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Predictions of the Future...From the 1960s

Posted by samzenpus on from the house-of-tomorrow dept.

kkleiner writes "Jetpacks, flying cars, death rays — the future isn't quite what the past hoped it would be. Of course, when predictions do come true it can be really shocking. Check out some of the more entertaining and eye-opening videos that show classic predictions from the 1960s. The Jet Age couldn't imagine the Age of Social Media clearly, but they got a few things right. And many more hilariously wrong."

14 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. Images of the future by drolli · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Usually say more about the hopes and fears than about what will be. The Background of the 60s was the cold war. In the same way the background of the 90s lead to overly optimistic images of the future.

    1. Re:Images of the future by toQDuj · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Too bad you posted anon, so you will likely not read this.

      Like most things, I find academia to be what you make of it. Sure, there are professors who've schmoozed their way into tenure and money, and continue to be lazy. However, many of them are actually genuinely interested in advancing with their topic and helping their group. Those are the ones to work for. And like you said, there is not much money to be got in academia compared to business, so I can't imagine profs doing it to line their pants. With lint.. maybe.

      And yes, the work that is done is a lot, most of which will hardly be read and even more of which is ultimately a dead end. Such is life. But some progress is made. Some areas are progressing with leaps and bounds (computational chemistry, for one), and much insight is gained. Quick, it is not, and I do not expect to see much significant changes in my lifetime. But gradual progress is there, at a glacial pace, nearly too slow to see. Conferences are actually places where good progress is made, mostly by people putting their heads and ideas together. The fact that it's in Hawaii, or (in my case) in Australia does not change a thing. If we take the geometrical centre of the research activity we would be in South Europe (Italy, Spain) and the people still be complaining. It has to be somewhere.

      --
      Every experiment which ends in a big bang is a good experiment.
    2. Re:Images of the future by myth24601 · · Score: 4, Informative

      All this crap about "investing" in education just serves to line fancy overpaid professors' pockets.

      The problem isn't just fancy overpaid professors but bloated administration. From 1975 to 2008 the California State University system increased the number of faculty by 3% while increasing the number of administrators by 221% so that now there are more administrators than there are faculty.

      --
      No matter where you go, there you are.
  2. funded by Monsanto by KiloByte · · Score: 5, Funny

    The House of the Future was funded by Monsanto who now is a scarily powerful biotech and genetically modified food conglomerate but who in the 1960s was all about plastics.

    So nothing really changed.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  3. Arthur C Clarke: Profiles of the Future.... 1962 by SomethingOrOther · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Arthur C Clarkes "Profiles of the Future" is the last word on this.
    First published in 1962, it's predictions are amazingly accurate. It is a must for any geek bookshelf and I'm amazed so few have read it.

    The (few!) things he did get wrong, he followed up in later editions of the book along with good explanations as to why that particular technology came about sooner / later than he predicted.

    There is an excellent article about the book given in the Guardian Newspaper
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/mar/04/profiles-future-arthur-clarke-review
    It is a fun book, much recommended.

    I'd post a link to Amazon..... but I'd rather you buy a copy from your local independent bookshop :-)

    --
    Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
    Don't believe what you read is the truth.
  4. Re:Arthur C Clarke: Profiles of the Future.... 196 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'd post a link to Amazon..... but I'd rather you buy a copy from your local independent bookshop :-)

    I wouldn't, so here is a link to buy it on Amazon.

  5. The online shopping one is really accurate by jez9999 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It shows the wife sitting at the console ordering her clothes, and then the husband paying for it at his console. Sounds about right.

    --
    == Jez ==
    Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
  6. Or is it we by Bromskloss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Jet Age couldn't imagine the Age of Social Media clearly, but they got a few things right. And many more hilariously wrong.

    Perhaps we are the ones who got it wrong.

    --
    Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
  7. Don't forget Google as predicted in 1964 by ribuck · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Don't forget Google as predicted in 1964 in a children's book.

    --
    Paid Q&A/Research
  8. Internet predicted prior to Clarke by brokeninside · · Score: 3, Funny

    FTFA:

    [Clarke] recalled that EM Forster, in a 1909 short story The Machine Stops, "pictured our remote descendants as living in isolated cells, scarcely ever leaving them, but being able to establish instant TV contact with anyone, anywhere else on Earth." Are we there yet?

    Sounds close enough to me.

  9. Re:My favourite silly one is houses by Sique · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's a remnant from the british houses, where the kitchen was close to the garden to use the herbs und fruits growing there. Now with most food being bought at the supermarket, the kitchen moves to the front door, so you don't have to carry your purchases through the whole house.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  10. Independent bookshops? - ha! by petes_PoV · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'd post a link to Amazon..... but I'd rather you buy a copy from your local independent bookshop

    Who will, in turn merely place an order with Amazon and charge you a premium for your laziness.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
  11. Re:Did he predict the Internet? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Internet has been predicted quite a few times. Off the top of my head, Mark Twain:

    http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/01/08/MarkTwain/

    Also I found this article on the topic, although the comments are far more interesting than the article itself:

    http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/03/who-said-science-fiction-never-predicted-the-internet/

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  12. Lack of power by Animats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What went wrong with "the future" was that no new source of energy was developed. Fifty years ago, we had coal, oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear, wind, wind, biomass, and solar. Which is what we have now. Breeder reactors didn't work. Nuclear power didn't become "too cheap to meter". Fusion didn't work. Solar cells never became really cheap. Solar power satellites were a fantasy.

    In each previous 50-year period back to 1800, there was some huge development that made energy cheaper. But in the last half-century, energy costs went up. This is the primary reason the exuberant energy-intensive future envisioned in the 1950s and 1960s didn't happen.

    Looking ahead, there's nothing in sight that will lead to another era of cheap energy. Over the next fifty years, energy costs will go up and up.