The world of 2008

[ciphergoth]

What Will Life Be Like in the Year 2008? (Nov, 1968)

Comments

[some-fox.livejournal.com]

I love that technology has advanced in amazing ways but gender roles are still exactly as they were in the sixties. Priceless :-)

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

Yes, they envisage housewives having nothing to actually do yet still being essentially housewives - boggle...

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

Yes, that struck me too. And although they're wrong about how those have played out, you get the same tendency now to imagine futures as new! and shiny! and different! but with gender, gender roles and sexuality not having moved on an iota.

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

I'm also pleased that they were fifty million out on US population.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Well, they're mostly wrong about transport, the workplace and gender roles, but they're broadly right about a lot of stuff - satnav, internet shopping, microwaves, debit card payments, huge TVs, cheap protein-rich food.

[booklectica]

Instead of being jostled by crowds, shoppers electronically browse through the merchandise of any number of stores.

Hurray for this coming true!

The average work day is about four hours.

Boo for this not coming true!

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

I must confess that friend_of_tofu and I are a little skeptical about this article. Some of the predictions are too accurate, and some of the mistakes (like the business about housewives, and the 3-hour commute) so hilariously and predictably wrong, that they may have been put in for effect.

That, or it's a strikingly accurate but nevertheless cringe-inducingly typical piece of 60s futurology writing. If it is a fake, it's really well put-together.

[jhg.livejournal.com]

A lot of it is surprisingly accurate!

Very glad we don't live in domed cities though - how ghastly! Usually in sci-fi the only reason for these is either environmental devastation, or some kind of population control.

Not sure about all the plastic & esp. disposable plastic!!! And how many housewives does he really think there'd be if they had fuck all to do all week eh? Surely they'd get careers, as has in fact happened?

But I want my 300mph automatic car dammit!

[henry_the_cow]

In last year's series of Top Gear, they had an automatic BMW going round their track at race speeds.

...reads on

[jhg.livejournal.com]

...and the satellite & undersea hotels of course. Brilliant!

[henry_the_cow]

Are there any articles predicting what life will be like in 2048? Or does no-one dare write stuff like this any more?

[reddragdiva]

It's the same reason science fiction is largely obsolete: change is now normal and we know we can't predict next week.