JTHipster:

Its not that the future isn't here, its that our view of what the world is changed, and with that what technology was needed changed.

In the 50s and 60s gas was cheap and cars were relatively new in the popular market. Great, right? Cars will always be perfect for everything. Make them bigger, make them have luxury! Flying cars, wouldn't that be great?

Then its the 70s. Gas prices go up. Simultaneously, Japan brings the small car to the collective conscious. Flying cars? Shit nobody actually wants that. So images of flying cars by and large drop down to minimal levels, to the point where flying cars are rarely any draw to sci-fi, especially alternate earth visions. And if they exist, they use a mystical fuel we all don't have, but would love.

That's one of te examples, but the core concept can be proven many times over. What we see as the future is a reflection of the world we see today. Google Glass might be aa part of that future, or it might not. Right now we see technology as a luxury, as a means of entertainment and socializing primarily. What will it be in 20 years? Will it be a necessity, will it be compulsory? We can't tell.

The grim truth is that what lies ahead is never known. Not even mildly. The glasses might flop right out the door. Someone else might jump ahead. You can only see a few feet ahead of you, everybody can. And when we look in to the future to try and guess whats ahead, we are asking two questions. What will it be, and how will the universe have changed as our perception of it changes?

Who here ever thought I'd be posting this on a keyboard that can fit in my palm, while moving at 60 miles an hour at a relatively stable connecton rate


posted 4081 days ago