Matt Novak

November 1942: An operator in London sending a picture by radio to Cairo. Back in the 1930s and 40s, radio transmission of photos was supposed to be the next big thing. Even your daily newspaper was going to come via radio! [Getty Images]

In 1961 The Future of Firefighting Was Heat-Seeking Missiles

Need to put out a forest fire? Why not bomb it with chemical-filled missiles? At least that was the plan in 1961. The September 17, 1961 edition of Arthur Radebaugh‘s Sunday comic strip “Closer Than We Think” imagined that in the future, firefighters would rain down missiles from the sky. Needless to say, it’s hard…

15 Technologies That Were Supposed to Change Education Forever

Every generation has its shiny new technology that’s supposed to change education forever. In the 1920s it was radio books. In the 1930s it was television lectures. Here in the second decade of the 21st century, it seems the Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) is the education tech of tomorrow. Let’s hope it pans out…

1928: A ‘money-in-the-slot’ automatic fruit and nut vending machine attached to a car, on display in Britain for the first time. [Getty Images]

Fast Food Restaurants Were Supposed To Be Completely Automated by Now

In the 1989 movie Back to the Future Part II, the food of 2015 looks incredibly familiar — it’s just prepared a bit differently. Toss a miniature Pizza Hut pizza onto a pan, stick it into your Black & Decker Hydrator, tell the machine how you want it cooked, and three seconds later your pizza…

The finest educators of the world will be able to teach by way of closed circuit television transmitted over telephone lines. We use closed circuit TV today for teaching, but by 2000 it will be much more widespread and much higher quality. —March 27, 1964 edition of the Neosho Daily in Missouri

Your Favorite Futurist Is Wrong

Nobody knows the future. This may seem like an obvious statement, but it bears repeating. Nobody knows the future. Most people can generally accept this idea. But when it comes to our favorite prognosticator, we often put blinders on. Futurism is an imperfect craft in which the most earnest and educated individual must practice a…

The Restaurant Inside LA’s Space Age Theme Building Has Closed

The restaurant inside an L.A. architectural icon has closed. Sadly, wannabe George Jetsons will no longer be able to pick up a cocktail at Encounter — the now-former restaurant inside LAX’s Theme Building. If you’ve ever flown through the L.A. airport you’ve no doubt noticed the space age, Googie-styled Theme Building. It was originally constructed…

Professor Jyblitts sits down for an “automatic luncheon” back in 1903. The restaurant’s robot arms are even kind enough to take off his coat for him. — Read the full comic from the October 18, 1903 Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia

The Weirdest CES Gadgets Of All Time (That Never Came Out)

The tech industry is riddled with vaporware — those products that get a big public announcement, but never actually find their way to stores. And it’s always been this way. Just ask investors who were throwing tons of money at airship companies at the turn of the 20th century. Sometimes the people tasked with building…

When The Economy Stinks, Our Books Get More Depressing

American futurism gets pretty dark during bad economic times. Many people start to see technology as the enemy, like they did in the 1930s and 1970s. And people generally feel less optimistic for the future. https://gizmodo.com/18-bizarre-letters-to-the-future-that-only-70s-kids-wil-1451498047 But new research shows that it’s not just futurism that becomes more gloomy during economic recessions. When the economy…

The 4 Most Amazing Electric Shock Stories According to a 1923 Contest

People love stories of near-fatal accidents. And back in the 1920s — when home electricity was really starting to become mainstream — there were more than enough death defying electric shock stories to go around. The August 1923 issue of Practical Electrics magazine published the winners of a summer contest for the best electric shock…

The Military Wanted Walt Disney to Build Real-Life Iron Man Suits

In 1965 the American military approached Walt Disney for a very special project. They wanted Disney engineers to build them an exoskeleton—basically a real-life Iron Man suit. The Navy sent a request for proposals to WED Enterprises—Disney’s design and architecture shop, now called Walt Disney Imagineering—hoping that they’d jump at the opportunity. But unfortunately for…

1981: A small, battery-powered self-protection device developed by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is worn on the wrist and can be easily activated to drive off an attacker with an electric shock. [Getty Images]

We Should Crowdfund This Insane Amusement Park Ride From 1919

Amusement park rides from the early 20th century weren’t exactly known for their safety. But if this terrifying attraction from 1919 had ever been built, it probably would’ve been the most dangerous ride ever constructed. Dreamt up by two New York inventors, this thing would obviously never fly in Disneyland. The idea? Thrill seekers would…

MCA Home Video will cut the price of the mega-hit “Back to the Future” from $79.95 to $29.95 later this summer. (The superior laser disc version retails for $34.95.) — June 22, 1987 Doylestown Intelligencer in Pennsylvania *$80 in 1987 is about $160 when adjusted for inflation

Here’s How Ridiculous This Year’s CES Will Look in 2034

Since 1967, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been a showcase for our high-tech future. Language translators, virtual reality systems, and even robots have graced the many different convention halls that have hosted CES over the years. Below we have a look at some of the fabulous gadgets from the Consumer Electronics Shows of yesteryear.…

The Most Exciting Time Capsules Being Opened This Year

Time capsuling is hard. Most capsules from the 20th century are lost, damaged, or simply forgotten. But with any luck, these eleven time capsules — all intended to be opened in the year 2014 — will find their way safely above ground sometime this year. From the computer parts buried by California high school students…

In a special article for the Washington Post Dr. [Thomas E.] Phipps used a series of analytical formulas based largely on past history and population growth to show “by the present calculations, the number of presidential assassinations will by the year 2014 reach one on the average of every four years.” — UPI White House…

17 High-Tech Gizmos From 1927’s Version of CES

Back in the 1920s, the New York Electrical Show was a bit like the Consumer Electronics Show of its day. New Yorkers could head down to Grand Central Palace to check out the latest in high-tech gadgets — gadgets that were becoming increasingly popular as more and more Americans got electricity at home. Everything from…