Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Why Are There No Black People On The Jetsons?

One of the most common questions I hear about the original 1962-63 run of “The Jetsons” is where are all the people of color? Scan any crowd shot in the first season of “The Jetsons” and you’d be hard pressed to find any non-white faces. Were the animators at Hanna-Barbera in the 1960s all racists?…

Tech News Matt Novak May 21 '13

That Time American School Kids Were Given Dog Tags Because of Nukes

In the early 1950s cities across the U.S. spent hundreds of thousands of dollars outfitting their children with military-style dog tags. Why were we giving kids something that’s usually reserved for people at risk of dying horrifically in the line of duty? Because in the era of duck and cover, kids were on the front…

Tech News Matt Novak May 20 '13

How Telemedicine Has Already Surpassed Our Earliest Predictions

Today, remotely operated robot doctors are zipping around intensive care units while smartphone apps beam vital signs from ambulance to hospital. Telemedicine is the wave of the future, but you might be surprised to learn that it has been for nearly a century. https://gizmodo.com/fda-says-its-ok-to-have-robot-doctors-5978614 The biggest hurdle for diagnosing a patient from a distance has…

Tech News Matt Novak May 20 '13

Will The Internet of Things Make Our Lives Any Easier?

The “Internet of Things” is shaping up to be the buzzphrase of the year as more and more of our machines take off their dunce caps. But as history has shown us, a smarter gadget doesn’t necessarily mean an easier life. If our modern soothsayers can be believed, soon your refrigerator will be snapchatting your…

Tech News Matt Novak May 20 '13

Commies, Nukes, and Flying Cars: What Seniors Predicted For 2076

The 1970s was a tough decade for America. Widespread distrust in government, rising inflation, the oil crisis, and disco were all wreaking havoc on the nation. There was tremendous uncertainty about the future of the country. And yet, 1976 was the U.S. Bicentennial; 200 years since the founding of the United States and Americans were…

Tech News Matt Novak May 17 '13

Paleofuture Joins Gizmodo

Hi, I’m Matt. You may know me from such internets as Smithsonian’s Paleofuture blog and Pacific Standard’s Time Machines blog. But today the Paleofuture blog (and yours truly) are moving to Gizmodo! I started the Paleofuture blog back in 2007 and had no idea that it would one day become my full-time job. But a…

Tech News Matt Novak May 17 '13

$18 for a Dozen Eggs by 2010? Inflation Fears in 1982

The Omni Future Almanac was published in 1982 — a year when America would see double-digit inflation and double-digit unemployment. Despite all this, the authors of the book were generally optimistic about the future of the nation. Technology, they explained, would solve many of the problems facing the country. In conjunction with this, the American…

Tech News Matt Novak May 10 '13

Predictions for Privacy in the Age of Facebook (from 1985!)

“The ubiquity and power of the computer blur the distinction between public and private information. Our revolution will not be in gathering data — don’t look for TV cameras in your bedroom — but in analyzing information that is already willingly shared.” Are these the words of a 21st century media critic warning us about…

Social Media Matt Novak May 2 '13

Nobody Walks in L.A.: The Rise of Cars and the Monorails That Never Were

“Who needs a car in L.A.? We got the best public transportation system in the world!” says private detective Eddie Valiant in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Set in 1947, Eddie is a car-less Angeleno and the movie tells the tale of a an evil corporation buying up the city’s streetcars in its…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 26 '13

Children of the 1980s Build Their Cities of Tomorrow

When I was in second grade I made a diorama of a city of the future. This was the early 1990s and the diorama was supposed to represent the year 2000—somehow still lightyears away for a young kid during the George H. W. Bush administration. My little diorama city had cars that ran on a…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 24 '13

Nikola Tesla’s Amazing Predictions for the 21st Century

In the 1930s journalists from publications like the New York Times and Time magazine would regularly visit Nikola Tesla at his home on the 20th floor of the Hotel Governor Clinton in Manhattan. There the elderly Tesla would regale them with stories of his early days as an inventor and often opined about what was…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 19 '13

One World Government and the War of Tomorrow

A bright rainbow hangs in the sky, descending just over the horizon. The many people of Earth march slowly toward it, leaving behind the crumbling fist of war, oppression and international borders. Nothing less than the future is over that horizon; a future that is defined by a new world order where people are able…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 11 '13

TV Will Tear Us Apart: The Future of Political Polarization in American Media

Imagine a world where the only media you consume serves to reinforce your particular set of steadfast political beliefs. Sounds like a pretty far-out dystopia, right? Well, in 1969, Internet pioneer Paul Baran predicted just that. In a paper titled “On the Impact of the New Communications Media Upon Social Values,” Baran (who passed away…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 5 '13

Disney Kills LucasArts, My Childhood

Yesterday the most important company of my childhood killed the second most important company of my childhood. This past October, Disney purchased LucasFilm which included their venerable video game division LucasArts. But recently Disney decided that LucasArts no longer made financial sense for them to keep alive and just yesterday laid off all of the…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 4 '13

Nikola Tesla and the Myth of the Lone Inventor

Who invented the Internet? To answer that seemingly simple question you basically have two options: you can go on for hours explaining the hundreds of people and institutions that contributed crucial advancements to the way that the Internet operates, or you can just say Vint Cerf. Or Leonard Kleinrock. Or Tim Berners-Lee. People have been…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 3 '13

The Jetsons Get Schooled: Robot Teachers in the 21st Century Classroom

This is the last in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The final episode of the first season (and only season until a mid-1980s revival) of “The Jetsons” originally aired on March 17, 1963, and was titled “Elroy’s Mob.” In the opening sequence of…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 29 '13

Ban Everything: Concern Over Future Blue Laws During the Lead Up to Alcohol Prohibition

Anytime the government tries to ban something there are usually loud warnings about slippery slopes and guesses as to what perfectly reasonable American past-time might be banned next. If New York City bans trans fats (as it did in 2007), what’s next? Smoking in its parks? Oversized sodas? Oh, right. It banned those things too,…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 28 '13

Sad Jetsons: Depression, Buttonitis and Nostalgia in the World of Tomorrow

This is the 23rd in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 23rd episode of “The Jetsons” originally aired on March 3, 1963 and was titled “Dude Planet.” In the year 2063, the people in the Jetsons’ universe work just a few hours a…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 25 '13

Postwar Dreams of Flying in Style

During World War II, many Americans had high hopes for what life would be like in the future. Sometimes this was fueled by advertisers who promised that great things were just around the corner. Sacrifice for your country now they said, and all of your wildest high-tech dreams would come true after the war. As…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 22 '13

Projection Chic: Jane Jetson Tries on Clothes in the Future

This is the 22nd in a 24-part series looking at every episode of “The Jetsons” TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 22nd episode of “The Jetsons” originally aired on February 24, 1963, and was titled “Private Property.” Like many that would come before it, this episode of “The Jetsons” centers around the business…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 20 '13

Matt Novak

Why Are There No Black People On The Jetsons?

That Time American School Kids Were Given Dog Tags Because of Nukes

How Telemedicine Has Already Surpassed Our Earliest Predictions

Will The Internet of Things Make Our Lives Any Easier?

Commies, Nukes, and Flying Cars: What Seniors Predicted For 2076

Paleofuture Joins Gizmodo

$18 for a Dozen Eggs by 2010? Inflation Fears in 1982

Predictions for Privacy in the Age of Facebook (from 1985!)

Nobody Walks in L.A.: The Rise of Cars and the Monorails That Never Were

Children of the 1980s Build Their Cities of Tomorrow

Nikola Tesla’s Amazing Predictions for the 21st Century

One World Government and the War of Tomorrow

TV Will Tear Us Apart: The Future of Political Polarization in American Media

Disney Kills LucasArts, My Childhood

Nikola Tesla and the Myth of the Lone Inventor

The Jetsons Get Schooled: Robot Teachers in the 21st Century Classroom

Ban Everything: Concern Over Future Blue Laws During the Lead Up to Alcohol Prohibition

Sad Jetsons: Depression, Buttonitis and Nostalgia in the World of Tomorrow

Postwar Dreams of Flying in Style

Projection Chic: Jane Jetson Tries on Clothes in the Future

Jupiter’s Largest Moon Has a Rare Magnetic Field. A Strange Theory May Explain It

Marshall Stanmore III Bluetooth Home Speaker Drops Close to AirPods Pro 3 Pricing for a Limited Time

Majority of Americans Support Ban on Surveillance Pricing and Electronic Shelf Labels

Roku Pushes 2026 4K QLED Smart TV to Record Low Ahead of the Upcoming FIFA World Cup

Alienware Fixed the One Problem With the Area-51, and Now I’m Afraid I Love It

Starship V3’s Heat Shield Was the Real Star of Flight 12

Dyson Car+Boat Handheld Vacuum Is Back at an All-Time Low, Now the Cheapest Cordless Cleaner in Dyson’s Lineup

Sennheiser’s Momentum 5 Look Like Tough Competition for Sony’s WH-1000XM6

Journal Retracts Controversial Study Claiming Keto Diets Don’t Clog Arteries

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) Originally Cost More Than AirPods Pro 3, but Not Anymore After a Sudden Price Drop

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max Review: Wireless Earbuds With Enough Features to Make Your Head Spin

Anker Solix E10 Review: No Power? No Problem

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker Review: Sonos Can Start Sweating Now

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar Review: A Boisterous Stab at Dominating Home Theater

Dell’s XPS 16 (2026) Is Almost Everything I Could Have Asked for… Almost

Smart Glasses With Subscriptions Are As Bad as They Sound

iBuyPower’s Trace X Gaming PC Is the Fishbowl You Want to Swim In

Govee Ceiling Light Ultra Review: AI Art Ain’t It

JBL Live 780NC Review: Solid Wireless Headphones You Can Live Without

Acer’s Swift 16 AI (2026) Gets a Lot Right, But I Can’t Get Past the Trackpad