Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Viva Las Venus: The Jetsons and Wholesome Hedonism

This is the 17th in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The January 20, 1963, episode of The Jetsons was titled “Las Venus” and along with the second episode of the series, “A Date With Jet Screamer,” is a great futuristic example of what…

Tech News Matt Novak

3D-TV, Automated Cooking and Robot Housemaids: Walter Cronkite Tours the Home of 2001

Legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite’s regular half-hour CBS documentary program “The 21st Century” was a glorious peek into the future. Every Sunday night viewers of the late 1960s were shown all the exciting technological advancements they could expect to see just 30 or 40 years down the road. The March 12, 1967, episode gave people…

Tech News Matt Novak

Future Calling: Videophones in the World of The Jetsons

This is the 16th in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The Jetsons episode “The Little Man” originally aired on ABC on Sunday January 13, 1963. The story revolves around the accidental shrinking of George to no more than a foot high by Mr.…

Tech News Matt Novak

Ordering Pizza Online in the Retrofuture

“Internet introverts are socially dysfunctional; they write online, talk online, view the world from online, order books and pizza online.” Ordering pizza… online? Who ever dreamt of such crazy a thing? This warning about our increasingly isolated and dysfunctional lives reads like it could’ve been written today. But it actually comes from the May 3,…

Tech News Matt Novak

NAACP Leader Roy Wilkins Predicts: “We’ll Elect A Negro President”

Back in 1970 the idea of a black person being elected president of the United States sat somewhere between flying cars and robot servants in the realm of futuristic possibility. The ink was barely dry on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Supreme Court had only recently ruled in 1967 that laws prohibiting interracial…

Tech News Matt Novak

Garrison Keillor’s 1996 Predictions for the Future of Media

There are many different ways to talk about the future, but few are more self-centered than guessing how the generations of tomorrow may judge you and yours. Garrison Keillor did just that with his article, “The Future of Nostalgia,” which appeared in the September 29, 1996, issue of The New York Times Magazine. Some of…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Jetsons and the Future of the Middle Class

This is the 15th in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The world of “The Jetsons” is fundamentally a conservative vision of the future. Whenever I mention this people tend to give me a strange look. But what I mean by “conservative” is not…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Gadgets of the Future From the Electrical Shows of Yesterday

Postcard from the Chicago Electrical Show circa 1908 [Source: Novak Archive] The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which concluded last week in Las Vegas, is where the (supposed) future of consumer technology gets displayed. But before this annual show debuted in 1967, where could you go to find the most futuristic gadgets and appliances? The answer…

Tech News Matt Novak

George Jetson Gets A Check-Up

This is the 14th in a 24-part series looking at every episode of The Jetsons TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 14th episode of “The Jetsons” originally aired in the U.S. on December 30, 1962, and was titled “Test Pilot.” This episode (like so many others) centers around the competition between Spacely Sprockets…

Tech News Matt Novak

Santa Claus Builds A Flying Machine

Some people are up in arms over a recent update to Santa Claus that excised his smoking habit. However you feel about Santa losing his pipe, let me assure you that this won’t be the last time that Santa gets a makeover. It’s easy for some people to forget that every generation has “updated” Santa…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Decline and Fall of the Space Action Hero

This is the thirteenth in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 13th episode of “The Jetsons” originally aired on December 16, 1962, and was titled “Elroy’s Pal.” The episode looks at Elroy’s obsession with the fictional TV show “Nimbus the Greatest,” about a…

Tech News Matt Novak

Fun Places on the Internet (in 1995)

“Who hasn’t heard about the Internet? It’s mentioned on television, in the magazines, and on the radio. Everyone’s talking about it, and everyone wants to get connected to it.” So began the 1995 book, simply titled The Internet by Kerry Cochrane. Do you remember your first time on the Internet? Mine was pretty typical for…

Tech News Matt Novak

Sit Back and Plug In: Entertainment in the Year 2000

In the January, 1950, issue of Redbook author Philip Wylie laid out his predictions for the year 2000. Wylie’s predictions focused on the world of leisure and, depending on your point of view, it’s either a delightfully hedonistic vision of utopian living finally realized — or a darkly hedonistic vision of sloth and sin. This…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Best Gifts to Give (or Receive) About Paleofuturism

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for that paleofuturist in your life, might I suggest a few of the books and DVDs currently sitting on my shelf? Well, not these books exactly. But different copies of these books that you can buy from a reputable retailer. You get the picture. Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions…

Tech News Matt Novak

A Futuristic Golf Game in the Sky

This is the twelfth in a 24-part series looking at every episode of The Jetsons TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 12th episode of “The Jetsons” originally aired in the U.S. on December 9, 1962 and was titled “Astro’s Top Secret.” Personally, this is my least favorite episode in the entire series. It…

Tech News Matt Novak

Motopia: A Pedestrian Paradise

“No person will walk where automobiles move,” is how British architect Geoffrey Alan Jellicoe described his town of the future, “and no car can encroach on the area sacred to the pedestrian.” Jellicoe was talking to the Associated Press in 1960 about his vision for a radically new kind of British town—a town where the…

Tech News Matt Novak

Your Genetic Future: Horse-Dogs, Plantimals and Mini-Rhino Pets

Maybe you’ve heard the internet meme-ish question: would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses. Well, I’ve got a new one for you: would your rather own a kitty-cat sized-rhino or a rhino-sized kitty-cat? Because children of the 1980s were told that in the future they might just get such a…

Tech News Matt Novak

Grandpa Jetson is Way Cooler Than Grandpa Simpson

This is the eleventh in a 24-part series looking at every episode of The Jetsons TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 11th episode of The Jetsons opens with a police officer pulling over Montague Jetson — George’s grandfather and a man whose abundant energy and enthusiasm for life dominate the episode. The cop…

Tech News Matt Novak

In the 1920s, Shoppers Got Fooled By Fake Televisions

Today advertisers use futuristic tech like jetpacks and robots in their TV ads so that potential consumers think of their brand as forward thinking and innovative. In the 1920s, the cutting edge gadget that advertisers most wanted to associate themselves with was television. But, since the technology was still in its infancy, they faked it.…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Episode Where George Jetson Rages Against the Machine

This is the tenth in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. From the very first episode “The Jetsons” promised a push-button future of leisure. But this vision of easy-living sometimes has a dark side. A side where robots might cease helping you—and begin stealing…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

Viva Las Venus: The Jetsons and Wholesome Hedonism

3D-TV, Automated Cooking and Robot Housemaids: Walter Cronkite Tours the Home of 2001

Future Calling: Videophones in the World of The Jetsons

Ordering Pizza Online in the Retrofuture

NAACP Leader Roy Wilkins Predicts: “We’ll Elect A Negro President”

Garrison Keillor’s 1996 Predictions for the Future of Media

The Jetsons and the Future of the Middle Class

The Gadgets of the Future From the Electrical Shows of Yesterday

George Jetson Gets A Check-Up

Santa Claus Builds A Flying Machine

The Decline and Fall of the Space Action Hero

Fun Places on the Internet (in 1995)

Sit Back and Plug In: Entertainment in the Year 2000

The Best Gifts to Give (or Receive) About Paleofuturism

A Futuristic Golf Game in the Sky

Motopia: A Pedestrian Paradise

Your Genetic Future: Horse-Dogs, Plantimals and Mini-Rhino Pets

Grandpa Jetson is Way Cooler Than Grandpa Simpson

In the 1920s, Shoppers Got Fooled By Fake Televisions

The Episode Where George Jetson Rages Against the Machine

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

‘Supergirl’ Will Feature David Corenswet’s Superman in a Sort of Big Brother Role

Report: FDA Set to Unban RFK Jr.’s Favorite Peptides

Source Code for Anthropic’s Claude Code Leaks at the Exact Wrong Time

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset