Doesn't the Future Suck?
August 29th 2006 01:03
Doesn’t the Future Suck?
Is anyone else disappointed in the future that we were led to believe was just around the corner? The miracles and wonder that new technology would herald left us agape with anticipation. How many times as a young child were we shown what is on the drawing board of the largest corporations and could not wait to see things happen? Things that waited for us when we grew up were not just plans but will happen by a due date and no later. The dim dark past of the sixties and seventies is over and I am sourly disappointed. It’s not that I expected a new utopia buy the promised inventions would have been enough to satisfy my future lust.
For example the High Speed Monorail across every city skyline that would deliver us to our workplaces within minutes. Where are they? Sydney has a monorail but it is hardly the sleek super fast transport of the future. Instead is seems to idle around the city streets with all the urgency of a casual stroll. What about the permanent moon bases as depicted in the television series ‘Space 1999’? The year came and went and aside from a little bit of space junk the moon is still just as uninhabited as it has been for millions of years. Which brings me the rotating station depicted in ‘2001’, nope, we did build it. Nor is there any sign of regular customer travel to outer space on a Pan Am space shuttle. Missions to Mars? Not yet son. Jupiter? Not in your lifetime or mine? The rocket suits from ‘Lost in Space’ have been spotted at carnivals but with a flight time of a few seconds they are a very big let down. Yet engine cars are not zooming along our highways as the do in the series ‘UFO’. Remember that it was meant to be set in the 1980’s. How about our flying cars? According to the film ‘Bladerunner’ we have only until 2019 before the police are issued with theirs. That gives us 13years to make good on the promise. Personally I don’t see it happening.
Perhaps we were too eager to accept the dreams put forward by all the futurists and corporate marketers. Perhaps somewhere between the ZPG, the MAD of 1984 we lost our ambitions for greater things and began to spiral into a lack of progress. It is more disappointing than waiting a lifetime for Hailey’s Comet only to see it as a dull smear across the sky. Does anyone else believe that they have been shown one future but delivered another? And in comparison this Future really sucks.
Is anyone else disappointed in the future that we were led to believe was just around the corner? The miracles and wonder that new technology would herald left us agape with anticipation. How many times as a young child were we shown what is on the drawing board of the largest corporations and could not wait to see things happen? Things that waited for us when we grew up were not just plans but will happen by a due date and no later. The dim dark past of the sixties and seventies is over and I am sourly disappointed. It’s not that I expected a new utopia buy the promised inventions would have been enough to satisfy my future lust.
For example the High Speed Monorail across every city skyline that would deliver us to our workplaces within minutes. Where are they? Sydney has a monorail but it is hardly the sleek super fast transport of the future. Instead is seems to idle around the city streets with all the urgency of a casual stroll. What about the permanent moon bases as depicted in the television series ‘Space 1999’? The year came and went and aside from a little bit of space junk the moon is still just as uninhabited as it has been for millions of years. Which brings me the rotating station depicted in ‘2001’, nope, we did build it. Nor is there any sign of regular customer travel to outer space on a Pan Am space shuttle. Missions to Mars? Not yet son. Jupiter? Not in your lifetime or mine? The rocket suits from ‘Lost in Space’ have been spotted at carnivals but with a flight time of a few seconds they are a very big let down. Yet engine cars are not zooming along our highways as the do in the series ‘UFO’. Remember that it was meant to be set in the 1980’s. How about our flying cars? According to the film ‘Bladerunner’ we have only until 2019 before the police are issued with theirs. That gives us 13years to make good on the promise. Personally I don’t see it happening.
Perhaps we were too eager to accept the dreams put forward by all the futurists and corporate marketers. Perhaps somewhere between the ZPG, the MAD of 1984 we lost our ambitions for greater things and began to spiral into a lack of progress. It is more disappointing than waiting a lifetime for Hailey’s Comet only to see it as a dull smear across the sky. Does anyone else believe that they have been shown one future but delivered another? And in comparison this Future really sucks.
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Comment by jon
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I do feel let down by the general lack of rocket-packs. I was really looking forward to them when I was a kid. Guess I will have to make do with using them in Duke Nukem!
Comment by Cinico
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Comment by Bob Short
It does have one advantage, however. Even a bad future is better than no future at all
Comment by AmyH
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
my robot slave;
genetically engineered army soldiers;
under the sea cities
and
every home having a flat roof(to land your flying car on).
Is there anything I left out?
Comment by AmyH