When you were young, let’s say age 20, do you remember what you thought the year 2022 would be like? Who could have predicted a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the rise of Amazon, Netflix, or even a global pandemic but here we are. While I can’t remember exactly what I thought the world of the 2020s would be like, as a science fiction fan, though, I kind of thought we’d be a little further along technology-wise.
I really thought things like teleportation and human cloning would be in their infancy at the very least. Who knows, maybe they are, and we just don’t know about it yet. Let’s not forget flying cars and personal jet packs. I mean, we were promised jet packs!1
Don’t get me wrong. To this day, I still look around at things like the internet (hey, don’t judge me…I’m old), personal computers, and cell phones and marvel about how far we have come. I can just imagine going back in time (no, we don’t have time travel either) and trying to explain to my younger self about cell phones.
“You see kid, it’s a cordless telephone that you can FIT IN YOUR POCKET! It gives you access to the entire world through a network called the internet, you can take pictures with it, record video and audio, and even use it as an alarm clock -and- a calculator!”
“Get out of here old man, you’re drunk.”
Yeah, it would have been a hard sell for me back in 1983 when the cordless phone cost around $130.00, but I still would have been intrigued.
Some of the technological wonders I remember marveling (and still marvel) at:
Cable television: When you grew up with only three networks and the possibility of maybe a few more if you got UHF stations, suddenly getting another 20-30 channels (in the beginning and some devoted only to movies) was truly amazing.
Personal computers: The first time I even touched a personal computer was in high school. Back then, there wasn’t much you could do on them besides basic spreadsheets and play “Lode Runner”, which I played a lot of.
Cars: Back in a time when you could work on your own car, I did sort of have a sense that cars would get more technical. Keyless entry and remote starting thanks to onboard computers are still pretty cool features and now we’re getting cars that drive themselves (not that I’ll ever get in one) as well as electric vehicles. I’m still waiting for them to fly, though.
Cell phones: I’ve already mentioned them, but cell phones have to be the most “futuristic” idea I could have thought of back in the 80s. A mix of Dick Tracy and Star Trek that still amazes me along with the prices. Whew!
Streaming video and music: These days, DVDs and CDs are pretty much dead media. Not for some of us (I still have a ton of both), but in a few years I look for companies to produce less and less of these. Streaming services and places like YouTube are quickly making them obsolete. That is until internet access is cut off…then it’s a different story. I thought the days of download sites like “Limewire” would be around forever but what did I know?
I’m not sure why and maybe it’s just the old man in me, but some of this stuff still amazes me.
What amazes you (if anything)? What did you think we would have by now, but don’t? What do you think is to come?
It’s anyone’s guess and there are no wrong answers.
Until next time—
Jetpacks: here’s why you don’t have one | Aeronautics | The Guardian
I remember we only had 12 tv channels. And every time you wanted to change the channel, you had to get up off the couch and press a button on the tv next to the corresponding channel. As far as computers, I used one in a class in junior high but I can't remember what I did on it.
The first thing I thought about when I read this story was "The Jetsons". I used to watch that all the time. I think we thought that was what would happen in the future. They are building airplanes now that can take you from one location to another. And now they're creating drones that deliver packages. Who knows what's next?
Two words: LODE RUNNER. I've not thought of that game in years - and now I have that itch to play it. On a floppy disc, of course. And maybe ... Oregon Trail? And then a computer-based Dungeons and Dragons? The nostalgic possibilities are endless!
As for what might have been ... when I was in elementary school in the late 70s, we watched an animated film (not a video - a reel-to-reel film) about the 'future.' My only memory of this film was a machine - in my recollection, not unlike one of those early WWI tanks - that moved along the ground, chewing up trees, levelling hills and producing a perfect road out of its backside as it went. Environmentally it's obviously not something that should be realised in reality, but the idea it was pretty cool - and, given the amount of time I seem to sit in the car waiting for roadworks - something I wouldn't mind!