The picture speaks for itself. It was taken from a 1954 issue
of Popular Mechanics magazine. Be sure to read the text under the picture.
Is that a prototype ipod in the top right of the picture?
What the hell is the big steering wheel for?
you spin that to make the hard disk go…
For playing Gran Turismo, Mario Kart et al.
Tech predictions? How about 3D printers? They’re in the early stages now, but I reckon in fifty years you should be able to download and print computer components, household items and the like.
What I’d really love to see though is a star ladder. That would be extremely cool and drastically cut the cost of getting into space, opening up a new age of exploration.
There’s always the famous one:
Particularly nice as that was the year before Sputnik.
But this is my favourite:
1998 There isn’t an Internet company in the world that’s going to fail because of mistakes – Internet companies make thousands of mistakes every week. (Candice Carpenter of iVillage)
1995 I predict the Internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in
1996 catastrophically collapse. (Robert Metcalfe)
1994 I see little commercial potential for the Internet for at least ten years. (Bill Gates)
1990 In ten years, computers will just be bumps in cables. (Gordon Bell)
1984 The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a mouse. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. (John Dvorak)
1981 640K ought to be enough for anybody. [see 1996] (Bill Gates)
1977 There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. (Ken Olson of Digital Equipment)
1953 If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger. (Frank Lloyd Wright)
1949 It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years.
1946 [Television] won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. (Darryl F Zanuck)
1943 I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. (?Thomas Watson of IBM)
1927 Who the hell wants to hear actors talk? (H M Warner of Warner Brothers)
1899 Everything that can be invented, has been invented. (sarcastic remark by Charles Duell of the U.S. Office of Patents)
1876 This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. (Western Union memo)
1865 Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value. (Boston Post)
1825 What can be more palpably absurd than the prospect held out of locomotives traveling twice as fast as stagecoaches? (Quarterly Review)
10 Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments. (Julius Sextus Frontinus)
[quote=“elektronisk”]What the hell is the big steering wheel for?[/quote]It’s for controlling the submarine that is what the picture really is of
Submarine exhibit in the Smithsonian Institut:
Hey, but let’s not forget that there are always forward-thinking individuals whose tech predictions, however ridiculed at the moment of articulation, later prove to be nothing short of prophetic.
That we in 2006 actually had to use cables or lines for power.
[quote=“smell the glove”]Hey, but let’s not forget that there are always forward-thinking individuals whose tech predictions, however ridiculed at the moment of articulation, later prove to be nothing short of prophetic.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39398[/quote]
Is this for real? It is scarily accurate if so. I checked the date at the top to see if it was an April 1 gag…naaaa I don’t believe it anyway.
[quote=“Edgar Allen”][quote=“smell the glove”]Hey, but let’s not forget that there are always forward-thinking individuals whose tech predictions, however ridiculed at the moment of articulation, later prove to be nothing short of prophetic.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39398[/quote]
Is this for real? It is scarily accurate if so. I checked the date at the top to see if it was an April 1 gag…naaaa I don’t believe it anyway.[/quote]
Look at the source - the onion.
I want this sort of Future!
I’ll still holding out for this one:
50 more years? Maybe.
I’m surprised that there aren’t more ideas generated from this thread.
Seeker4: I’m sure you have seen the news about the Australian scientists who transported light. However, for transportation of physical objects it looks like we will have to wait a while. If you haven’t read about it let me know.
I was serious in my previous post in saying that within 50 years in the future we will have wireless power. What I mean is - you will know longer need a cord or cable to connect your electronic device.
Information will be transferred to/from your device and power will be supplied to your device without physically connecting it to another device.
Currently we have the data transfer aspect covered and the device can be powered by battery. However, in the near future batteries are not adequate.
We need to wait quite a few years before battery technology reaches user requirements. 4-8 hour notebook computer battery performance may be fine for some, but not usable for extended use. What I am talking about is wirelessly receiving power to your device without plugging the device into a power outlet.
In the future, always on, always connected will have a new meaning.
Anyone else have a technological prediction?
[quote=“elektronisk”]. . . in the near future batteries are not adequate. . .
[/quote]
Batteries have never been adequate. Maybe in 50 years they will invent a battery that lasts more than a few hours.
And plastic wrap/tape that you can find the end to unpeel it.
And shopping carts whose wheels don’t get stuck sideways.
And TV remote control devices that humans can figure out.
And CDs that one can burn photos onto, then burn onto them again.
And computer software that allows the user to type in outline format without forcing the text into places where the user doesn’t want it to go.
And a way for all those companies that refuse to accept a Taiwan credit card or ship to Taiwan, in this age of globalization, to do so.
You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. . .
Because sex always sells, I predict the LoveBot.
Because guns sell, I predict the Ray-gun. It uses a high energy plasma beam or perhaps a “Laser”.
What I would love to see:
Biomechanics
Mimetic technologies
Artifice combined with natural processes: e.g. currently, some buildings incorporate plants, mosses, etc. to filter liquid waste, provide insulation, etc.