Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Copyright: God

From the October, 1989 issue of OMNI magazine

The Chemistry of Marriage

“Nobody has made any perceptible progress in a synthetic chemistry of matrimony” From the August 2, 1925 San Antonio Light (San Antonio, TX)

Tech News Matt Novak

From the April, 1935 issue of Science and Mechanics: It has proved possible to photograph books, and throw them on a screen for examination, as illustrated long ago in this magazine. At the left is a device for applying this for home use and instruction; it is practically automatic.

Tech News Matt Novak

Pollster George Gallup Jr. Looks to the Year 2000

George Gallup Jr., the son of Gallup Poll founder George Gallup died of liver cancer last week at the age of 81. Gallup Jr. wrote a book with William Proctor in 1984 titled Forecast 2000 that contained numerous predictions about the future of the United States. Gallup Jr., coming from a tradition of opinion polls,…

Tech News Matt Novak

A Thanksgiving Meal (in-a-pill)

Many Americans celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow will have a meal centered around Ben Franklin’s favorite bird — the turkey. But if this cartoon from the September 19, 1926 Ogden Standard-Examiner had proven prescient, the Thanksgiving meal of the 21st century would’ve been entirely pill-based. The turn of the 20th century brought a whole host of predictions…

Tech News Matt Novak

A Whole Town Under One Roof

The January 18, 1925, Zanesville Times Signal (Zanesville, Ohio) ran an article about a proposed 88 story skyscraper in New York. Titled “How We Will Live Tomorrow,” the article imagined how New Yorkers and other city-dwellers might eventually live in skyscrapers of the future. The article talks about the amazing height of the proposed structure,…

Tech News Matt Novak

Zipping from San Francisco to Oakland in 5 Minutes

Last week I had two friends from the Bay Area over to my apartment in Los Angeles. They recently moved to San Francisco from Oakland and I asked how they liked their new digs. “We love it. But I wish there was a way to get between Oakland and San Francisco easier.” They explained that…

Tech News Matt Novak

Arthur Radebaugh’s Shiny Happy Future

Whenever people discuss retro-futurism the first things that often come to mind are flying cars, jetpacks, meal pills and robot butlers. These were the dreams of a leisurely utopian world that would be built on the most advanced technologies history had ever seen. The promise of these products and the sincere belief in their inevitability…

Tech News Matt Novak

Burbank’s Aerial Monorail of the Future

The city of Burbank, California was incorporated in 1911 with a population of just 500. Today the population is just over 100,000 and the city is best known as the home of big name movie studios (and the closest Ikea to my apartment). Leading up to the incorporation of Burbank there was a lot of…

Tech News Matt Novak

1955 Imagines Travel in 1965

The mid-1950s was a revolutionary time for the American driver. The Federal Freeway Highway Act of 1956 would radically alter the American landscape with the largest public works projects the country had ever seen. President Eisenhower’s expansion of freeways criss-crossing the country inspired a lot of Americans to think about what the future of transportation…

Tech News Matt Novak

Thomas Edison’s Brief Stint As A Homemaker

The first decade of the 20th century was, for many people, a period characterized by incredible optimism for the future. The November 22, 1908 Sunday New York Times ran an article titled, “Inventions Which the World Yet Needs.” The dreams of yesterday are the realizations of today. We live in an age of mechanical, electrical,…

Tech News Matt Novak

Picturing the World Series of the Future

Almost 100 years ago, in the year 1912, Harry Grant Dart illustrated for Life magazine what the World Series of the future might look like. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the scoreboard shows New York is squaring off against London, as it was common for sports fans of the time to imagine that…

Tech News Matt Novak

Building Expectations

Brown University has an exhibit running through November 6 called “Building Expectation: Past and Present Visions of the Architectural Future.” The exhibit catalog has some fascinating write ups: one on King Camp Gillette (yes, the razor guy) and his vision for a utopian community near Niagara Falls; another about postcards from the turn of the…

Tech News Matt Novak

Today at War, Tomorrow in Stores

The incredible rate of production for the war effort during the 1940s meant that Americans had to make certain sacrifices. The government instituted a rationing program for products like gasoline, meat, butter and rubber, and citizens were encouraged to plant “victory gardens” to grow their own food. It was common for advertisers of the early…

Tech News Matt Novak

Steve Jobs: Futurist, Optimist

After the news of Steve Jobs’ death hit the Internet last night I sat for a bit reading heartfelt messages on Twitter. It wasn’t lost on me that I was sitting at an Apple computer while my iPhone sat on the desk next to me. Like many people around the world, I own some of…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Boston Globe of 1900 Imagines the Year 2000

The December 24, 1900 Boston Globe included an article that imagined what Boston would look like in the year 2000. Written by Thomas F. Anderson, the article was titled “Boston at the End of the 20th Century.” Anderson envisioned a city with moving sidewalks, pneumatic tube delivery of everything from food to newspapers, and airships…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Paleofuture Blog is moving!

I started the Paleofuture blog in 2007 as part of a writing class I was taking at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the time I thought that I’d maybe keep it up for just a couple of months. Little did I realize that writing about the history of the future would become such a huge…

Tech News Matt Novak

When We All Commute by Airplane

After the first successful powered flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903, it seemed like only a matter of time before everyone would be zipping around in their own personal aircraft. But if commuting to work via personal aeroplane was the future, how might the design of cities have to change to accommodate them? The…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Push-Button School of Tomorrow (1958)

The May 5, 1958 edition of Arthur Radebaugh’s Sunday comic, Closer Than We Think, showed off the high-tech school of tomorrow. With hordes of baby boomers flooding into public schools in the 1950s, it makes sense that this strip would focus on different solutions for overcrowding with that technological optimism we identify as being uniquely…

Tech News Matt Novak

Smoking Robots of the Future (1931)

This picture of the bucket-headed Willie Vocalite appeared in the September 6, 1931 San Antonio Light. Designed by Westinghouse engineer Joseph Barnett, Willie appears to have been programmed with a fondness for nictoine. Early 20th century inventors sure loved to make robots smoke, (when they weren’t shooting apples off their heads). So much so, that…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

Copyright: God

The Chemistry of Marriage

The Kindle of 1935

Pollster George Gallup Jr. Looks to the Year 2000

A Thanksgiving Meal (in-a-pill)

A Whole Town Under One Roof

Zipping from San Francisco to Oakland in 5 Minutes

Arthur Radebaugh’s Shiny Happy Future

Burbank’s Aerial Monorail of the Future

1955 Imagines Travel in 1965

Thomas Edison’s Brief Stint As A Homemaker

Picturing the World Series of the Future

Building Expectations

Today at War, Tomorrow in Stores

Steve Jobs: Futurist, Optimist

The Boston Globe of 1900 Imagines the Year 2000

The Paleofuture Blog is moving!

When We All Commute by Airplane

The Push-Button School of Tomorrow (1958)

Smoking Robots of the Future (1931)

‘Scream 4’ Is Back, and on Tape

Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Tech Companies Starting April 1

Amazon Clears Out Netflix-Licensed Nebula Capsule 3 Mini Projector at 32% Off, Dolby Audio Home Theater for Less

Anker 160W Laptop Charger Briefly Returns to Black Friday Pricing in a Last-Minute Amazon Spring Sale Deal

The New ‘Backrooms’ Trailer Is Packed Full of Endless Dread

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum Is a Late Spring Sale Deal at a Record Low on Amazon

The New ‘Supergirl’ Trailer Is Filled With Krypto, Lobo, and ’60s Soul

Vaping Comes With a Cancer Risk, Review Finds

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