Paleofuture, or Where They Thought We'd Be By Now

[livius drusus]

Ladies Home Journal, December 1900, on What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years (http://bp3.blogger.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RiR7L_dyCLI/AAAAAAAAAdU/2COTRQtZAk8/s1600-h/Ladies+Home+Journal+Dec+1900+paleofuture+paleo-future.jpg).

Well, the killer mass transit never panned out, and we've still got a wild animal or two, but the worldwide instantaneous transmission of telephony, images and film stuff is pretty spot on.

[Watser?]

Pneumatic tubes, instead of store wagons, will deliver packages and bundles.
So that's what these internets are :doh:

[ms_ann_thrope]

Surprisingly accurate! Although I do wish they'd been correct about the giant vegetables.

I wonder if LHJ would have predicted that it would still be around after more than 100 years!?

[viscousmemories]

Wow, that's really cool. I didn't know operators used to be called "Hello Girl"s.

[beyelzu]

good times liv, thanks for the linky

[Ymir's blood]

The list seems more presentient than most I've seen. Sure, we've still got poverty and no giant mobile land fortress making calvary style charges but on the whole it's not so bad. No mention of computers, of course, and a lot more centralization than we have. No city wide suppliers of air conditioning and while we do have food factories, they don't do the dishes after the meal. The biggest flaw seems to be an overly optimistic view of health and poverty, plus a lack of understanding in the importance of wetlands.


These (http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2007/09/french-prints-show-year-2000-1910.html) are a set of French postcards showing the year 2000, printed in 1910. They've got some vaguely accurate predictions and a lot of Flash Gordon style stuff as well. The hussar uniformed soldiers riding gatling gun equipped bikes are a personal favorite.

[Kyuss Apollo]

Coal will Not be Used for Heating or Cooking.

Too bad that wasn't true.

There will be No C, X, or Q in our everyday alphabet.

Yeah. Those letters are stupid.

[livius drusus]

Surprisingly accurate! Although I do wish they'd been correct about the giant vegetables.
:sadnana:


These (http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2007/09/french-prints-show-year-2000-1910.html) are a set of French postcards showing the year 2000, printed in 1910. They've got some vaguely accurate predictions and a lot of Flash Gordon style stuff as well. The hussar uniformed soldiers riding gatling gun equipped bikes are a personal favorite.
I'm partial to the Sweeney Todd barber apparatus, myself.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RuSWbKUY0LI/AAAAAAAABEw/S8mdJlTFu1k/s400/The+Barber+new+Play.jpg

[Ymir's blood]

Surprisingly accurate! Although I do wish they'd been correct about the giant vegetables.
:sadnana:

<img src="http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/sadbanana.gif" height="75" width="75">



These (http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2007/09/french-prints-show-year-2000-1910.html) are a set of French postcards showing the year 2000, printed in 1910. They've got some vaguely accurate predictions and a lot of Flash Gordon style stuff as well. The hussar uniformed soldiers riding gatling gun equipped bikes are a personal favorite.
I'm partial to the Sweeney Todd barber apparatus, myself.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RuSWbKUY0LI/AAAAAAAABEw/S8mdJlTFu1k/s400/The+Barber+new+Play.jpg
Shave and a hair cut... two bits... off of your ear.

[Dingfod]

The author, John Elfreth Watkins, Jr. (1852-1903) (http://siarchives.si.edu/findingaids/FARU7268.htm), had, among his several responsibilities, the title of Curator for Modern Technology at the United States National Museum (Smithsonian Institute). Either these predictions of his were eerily uncanny or this is an internet fraud, which wouldn't surprise me in the least. However, in his day Watkins would've definitely been an authority on the subject.

[Angakuk]

I have been depressed ever since the turn of the century. I want my damn flying car and I want it now.

[fragment]

I was expecting the apocalypse. Every day since 2000 is a gift.

[Watser?]

I needs one of those bikes

http://bp1.blogger.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RuSVt6UY0GI/AAAAAAAABEI/nFQr8pPKPSo/s400/Scouts+cyclists.jpg

[viscousmemories]

I was expecting the apocalypse. Every day since 2000 is a curse.

[viscousmemories]

...meanwhile, scientists take another step toward the LHJ's imagined future:

BBC NEWS | Health | Patch promises painless injection (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7002482.stm)

[Ymir's blood]

I needs one of those bikes

http://bp1.blogger.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RuSVt6UY0GI/AAAAAAAABEI/nFQr8pPKPSo/s400/Scouts+cyclists.jpg

But would you wear the gaiters and the helmet?

[Ymir's blood]

...meanwhile, scientists take another step toward the LHJ's imagined future:

BBC NEWS | Health | Patch promises painless injection (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7002482.stm)
That's interesting. The article never explains who HP is though? I'm guessing Hewlett-Packard? (from the printer angle)

He said that having a microneedle patch applied to your skin would feel like being "licked by a cat", but not painful.
Hmm, maybe we could design 'medicine cats.' :chin:

[viscousmemories]

Heh, I didn't even notice the this was from Hewlett-Packard. I only skimmed the article and assumed the inkjet comparison was a handy metaphor. Turns out they meant it literally; HP is "repurposing" their inkjet technology (http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201804553).

Also, I want a Medicine Cat. I will call him MC Licks-a-Lot.

[Ymir's blood]

Heh, I didn't even notice the this was from Hewlett-Packard. I only skimmed the article and assumed the inkjet comparison was a handy metaphor. Turns out they meant it literally; HP is "repurposing" their inkjet technology (http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201804553).
I hate it when do that, giving just abbreviations and acronyms without explanation. In a similar vein, journalists seem to be getting sloppier setting up their quotes. "blah blah blah," said Mr. Last-Name. when said person isn't otherwise mentioned in the article.

It will be interesting to see where this technology goes though. It seems like it would be quite useful for patients who can't remember how often and how much medicine to take.

Also, I want a Medicine Cat. I will call him MC Licks-a-Lot.
The trick would be training them to only cough up hairballs into approved medical waste bins.

[Dingfod]

...meanwhile, scientists take another step toward the LHJ's imagined future:

BBC NEWS | Health | Patch promises painless injection (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7002482.stm)Whoopie-freakin-doo, I got painless Tuberculosis vaccination by transcutaneous air injection back in about 1968 or 1969.

[California Tanker]

I needs one of those bikes

http://bp1.blogger.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RuSVt6UY0GI/AAAAAAAABEI/nFQr8pPKPSo/s400/Scouts+cyclists.jpg

How about

http://www.armyvehicles.dk/images/nimbus20mm_1.jpg

20mm cannon should clear a path for you in traffic.

Most countries went for a machinegun, however.
http://www.mcnews.com.au/ClassicsCustoms/Images/Sidecar11.jpg
http://www.eaglehorse.org/3_home_station/history_daley_barracks/history_part_1/krad%20sidecar%20with%20mg.jpg

NTM

[Shake]

Very interesting. Some things were way off the mark, while others didn't go as far as they'd imagined. And some they got right despite their logic. For example, automobiles being cheaper than horses. They're most certainly not, but they have replaced the horse as a means of transportation and are more widely available.
Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. ...
The net, digital photography, and satellite communications have made the near instantaneous transfer of images around the globe a reality, and even commonplace.

The part about the use of airships in military applications was rather interesting as well. Though things like radar have done away with the need for "100-mile telescopes", and do a reconn job much faster than visual scanning.

[erimir]

Is buying and maintaining and fueling a cheap automobile more expensive than buying and housing, and providing veterinary care and food for a horse?

I kinda feel like it probably isn't except out in the country...

[Deadlokd]

Coal will Not be Used for Heating or Cooking.

Too bad that wasn't true.

There will be No C, X, or Q in our everyday alphabet.

Yeah. Those letters are stupid.

Yeah, but they're worth heaps in Scrabble. I wait for the day when I can spell QUIXOTIC.

[Dingfod]

Is buying and maintaining and fueling a cheap automobile more expensive than buying and housing, and providing veterinary care and food for a horse?

I kinda feel like it probably isn't except out in the country...This is something I have some experience with.

Horse - $3000 (pretty minimal for a good one with decent training).
Expected useable lifespan: about 15 years, or $200 per year.

Hay, grain, routine vet bills, medicine and parasite control, and farrier (horseshoeing): $150 a month, or $1800 a year. This is pretty dependent on hay and feed costs; last year hay was $8 a bale, compared to $3 normally.

Boarding in stable (or land and barn costs): $300 a month, or $3600 a year. Some places include hay, but not grain or anything else. Others charge extra for feeding. Some cost a heck of a lot more than $300. However, there are a few that charge less, depend on your locale.

ETA: It isn't much cheaper living in the country, there is the additional cost of having land that, in my opinion, make up most of the cost of housing a horse in a stable, building barns, stalls, corrals, fences and gates and the maintenance thereof.

Riding equipment: I estimate one could easily spend $500 a year on saddles, bridles, blankets, stirrups, bits, etc.

Total: $6100 per year, or about 80 cents per mile (based on riding 10 miles each way to and from work, 5 days a week, 52 weeks in a year) assuming the horse doesn't get sick or pull up lame.

Compare that to 52 cents per mile average operating cost of an automobile (http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_03_14.html).

[JoeP]

The trip from suburban home to office will require a few minutes only. A penny will pay the fare.

Right. That one annoys me.

Also the optimism about flies and mosquitoes having been eradicated.

[Dingfod]

The trip from suburban home to office will require a few minutes only. A penny will pay the fare.

Right. That one annoys me.Adjusted for inflation, the $1 it costs for bus fare here isn't much more than one cent was in 1900.

Also the optimism about flies and mosquitoes having been eradicated.Another thirty-five years of DDT might well have done the job.

[fragment]

Another thirty-five years of DDT might well have done the job.
Apart from the way it didn't.

[Dingfod]

I was only kidding there, but DDT did happen to be a very effective insecticide, it just had some unfortunate environmental and health side-effects.

[fragment]

Still is a very effective insecticide, where resistance isn't too strong. Pesky evolution.