Those of us of a “certain age” will remember shows and movies and TV that was predicting what the future will bring…
Today a guy showed me a phone with infrared and night vision capabilities that he could also use to browse the internet.
I felt “old”… not because I couldn’t understand the technology involved, but because those sort of things were part of a "far off’ futuire when I was child…
I hope I am making my self clear with this analogy, but my quetion is, to the older dopers, what makes you say "WOW!.. I am in “the future!”
It doesn’t have to be recent to be high-tech…
About 25 years ago when cable TV got popular,I said the future had arrived.
I remembered a scene in the movie ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ where the astronauts see televison from earth, and they were watching BBC 12…Twelve, yes 12, channels!!! Everybody in the audience (in London, 1967) laughed out loud–BBC had just expanded and started a 2nd channel, which was obviously all anyone needed.
My new notebook computer. It’s hardly the most advanced of its kind… but it’s got two strips of blue LED lighting on it, with a gradient so they’re bright towards the middle of the machine and fade out towards the edges.
Utterly pointless, but utterly ‘It is the year… 2007!!’
Well, they had a point. The BBC had, what, a half-hour episode of Dr. Who a week and 17 espisodes of The Prisoner. How many documentaries about cheesemaking and the fall of the Roman Empire do you need before you’ve filled up the bandwidth of two channels?
Now we have 500 channels…and proportionally less actual content. Ain’t progress grand?
Many commercial airliners can fly from departure runway center-line to arrival runway center-line on autopilot. That is pretty cool although it doesn’t much to the passengers except for the occasional landing that couldn’t be done before. They still haven’t made all that progress with cars though.
When I was a kid we had one TV channel and a b/w TV.
25 years later, I can follow the 3D path of a commercial jet on Google Earth in real-time. When it flies over my house, I can go out on the patio and look up and see that exact same jet in real life.
CRISWELL PREDICTS! I predict that by the Year 2007, the Electronic Brain will be a commonplace sight in every American home! This remarkable advancement will enable you to work, bank, and browse the contents of the world’s great libraries and museums, all from the comfort of your own living room! The Electronic Brain will combine the advantages of television, radio, and newspapers, providing you with constantly updated information 24 Hours a Day! The Electronic Brain will anticipate your wants and needs, offering suggestions for goods and services from around the globe based on your individual choices and personality! The Electronic Brain will entertain you with games and fantastic recreational diversions never before imagined! Daily, people from all nations and all walks of life will interact with ease via the medium of the Electronic Brain! Travel will be easier than ever before, as the Electronic Brain will instantly provide maps of every metropolitan center, as well as space satellite photographs of the entire Earth-- including your own home! Remember this prediction! Yes, my friend, all these things will come to pass by… the Year 2007!
