Monday, February 02, 2009

Retrofuturology

.
They predicted flying cars - Hasn't happened.
They predicted a leisure society - We're still waiting and oh how we wish.
They predicted the internet. Yep, they did.

Here's a 1969 video on future technology. I particularly love the "wife will buy and husband will pay" thing. And the "keyboard"... Retro indeed.


Poached from the blog of Steve Proulx on Voir (in French)
.

12 comments:

lime said...

oh man that's a hoot! internet shopping via old fashioned switchboard relays. and the look of consternation on dad's face. ack!

Joe Jubinville said...

"...by push button" The ultimate convenience!

Except for a few tweaks, it wasn't that far off.

Dumdad said...

Still, not a bad prediction as this was way back in 1969.

Jill said...

No bad. I'm so glad the mouse was invented though. Turning little knobs all day would get really old after a while.

Jazz said...

Lime - Yeah, that look is priceless. The narration: Mom will buy, dad will pay... how far we've come.

Jeaux - Yeah, they even have flat screens.

Dumdad - For once they got it right,

Jill - I can just see you at MegaCorp pushing the buttons...

ticknart said...

And people think the '60s were the "good old days"? Crazy.

Anonymous said...

Where can I get me one of them futuristic retro husbands? He looks really responsible agonizing over the bills like that, rubbing his chin in consternation. No porn for him!

geewits said...

I'm glad people figured out that warching your children play in the pool by monitor is not a good idea.

Oh and here's you a flying car:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/12/sky-commuter-vehicle.html

Anonymous said...

That's great - I've got to show this to my older son who LOVES retro electronics.

Ian Lidster said...

Gee whillickers I wish we had that stuff. Oh, wait,we do. I cannot believe the amount of hardware they envisioned as being necessary. But, a product of the times, just like the Starship Enterprise used analog dials.

Anonymous said...

That's a fun clip! Amazing to think that they had the general idea of the internet a very long time before it became one of our necessities of life in the 21st century.

Jazz said...

Ticknart - Whenever you're from 40 years ago was the good old days. People tend to forget all the not so great stuff.

XUP - He's a good man he is.

Geewits - You're the only one who picked up on that. I hadn't noticed it. As for the flying car, cool, but nobody's choice method of transportation.

Citizen - Gotta love that stuff

Ian - I love watching old Star Trek shows. The analog dials, how every time someone unknown was in the team going to the planet, they'd die, and how Kirk would hold in his gut when shirtless.

Pinklea - It is strange. I found another clip from French TV (which inlcudes parts of this clip) where they were interviewing a scientist
talking about this stuff - and saying they'd have to find a name for it...