Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Jobs Robots Will Never Do (1983)

The June 3, 1983 Wall Street Journal ran a short blurb about jobs that robots would soon do and others that robots would probably never do. Darning socks made the list of jobs they’d never do. They should have put it on the list of things humans wouldn’t do either. Where’s my Father McKenzie bot?!?!!…

Tech News Matt Novak

First Men to the Moon (1960)

The 1960 book First Men to the Moon by Wernher von Braun tells the story of John Mason, a fictional astronaut of the future bound for the moon. The dedication page reads, “To Iris and Margrit [von Braun’s daughters] who will live in a world in which flights to the moon will be commonplace.” In…

Tech News Matt Novak

Dawn of the Wireless Phone (1901)

William Edward Ayrton (source: Wikimedia)Susan J. Douglas has a fascinating essay about early wireless telegraphy in the book Imagining Tomorrow: History, Technology and the American Future, which was edited by Paleo-Future Legend Joe Corn. Douglas excerpts a prediction by Professor William Edward Ayrton that appeared in a 1901 magazine called The Century. In it, Ayrton…

Tech News Matt Novak

What Happened to the Future?

This image was lost some time after publication. Your fourth most favorite retro-futurist blogger was on the teevee box last night rambling about robots* and stuff. The clip is embedded below or you can watch it on KTLA‘s website. We hit most of the major topics and I somehow manage to keep my shirt on.…

Tech News Matt Novak

This Age of Power and Wonder (1930s)

Companies of the early 20th century would often include collectible cards with their foodstuffs and tobacco smokes. The New York Public Library has an extensive collection of these cigarette cards available for viewing online, including many from a series by Max Cigarettes called This Age of Power and Wonder. This series from 1935-38 includes predictions…

Tech News Matt Novak

Garco the Robot Retires (1961)

Lately I’ve been obsessed with finding the current location of 1950’s robot star Garco. Garco appeared on numerous TV shows, including one of my favorite pieces of retro-space-futurism, the 1957 Disneyland TV episode, “Mars and Beyond.” I can’t seem to find any clue as to where this robot might be stored. Is Garco sitting in…

Tech News Matt Novak

1975 and the Changes to Come (1962)

TV of the future Meat Puppets drummer Derrick Bostrom has a wonderful Flickr set of images from the 1962 book, 1975: And the Changes to Come by Arnold B. Barach. While some of the products like this bacon toaster would be well suited for a 1960’s version of Sky Mall magazine, others were practical visions…

Tech News Matt Novak

paleofuture.tv [episode 00000]

Rather than finish the magazine I’ve been working on for months*, I edited the premiere episode of paleofuture.tv yesterday. As you can see, it has the the production values of amateur porn, but with 37% less nudity.** The first episode is about food, and as I learn a bit more about how to properly put…

Tech News Matt Novak

paleofuture.tv [episode 00000]

Rather than finish the magazine I’ve been working on for months*, I edited the premiere episode of paleofuture.tv yesterday. As you can see, it has the the production values of amateur porn, but with 37% less nudity.** The first episode is about food, and as I learn a bit more about how to properly put…

Tech News Matt Novak

Alpha the Robot Shoots His Inventor (1932)

During the autumn of 1932 a group of curious onlookers assembled in Brighton, England to see inventor Harry May’s latest invention, Alpha the robot. The mechanical man was controlled by verbal commands and sat in a chair silently while May carefully placed a gun in Alpha’s hand. May then walked across the room to set…

Tech News Matt Novak

Radio of the Future (1942)

The radio of the future is… a television? This 1942 ad for Admiral radios featured modernist designer Samuel A. Marx and his vision of a “radio of the future.” Like most American visions of the future from the 1940s, this one is drenched in talk of war and what technological advancements are just around the…

Tech News Matt Novak

Space Station (1956)

Today’s retro-futuristic eye candy comes from the 1956 book The Complete Book of Space Travel. This donut-shaped space station, popularized by Wernher von Braun, popped up on TV, in films and even on lunch boxes. Do the kids these days still carry lunch boxes? I really have no idea. I vaguely recall carrying an ALF…

Tech News Matt Novak

Electronic Home Library (1959)

Remember 1959? You were just 9 years old, with not a care in the world (except maybe nuclear winter). You spread the Sunday paper out across the living room floor of your suburban Chicago home, and excitedly flipped to the funny pages. Closer Than We Think! Your favorite! What fantastical promise from the future did…

Tech News Matt Novak

Future New York, The City of Skyscrapers (1925)

This postcard from 1925 imagines future New York City, “The City of Skyscrapers.” Utopian New York of the 1920s sure had a lot of levels, with a system of elevated trains, some beautiful flying contraptions, and towering skyscrapers reaching toward the heavens. I’m fascinated by New York futurism, as it generally had a more rugged…

Tech News Matt Novak

Will Humanity Annihilate Itself? (1939)

The March 29, 1939 San Antonio Light (San Antonio, TX) ran this teaser for an article that was to appear in the April 2nd issue of The American Weekly. At first glance, I had assumed that the ad was referencing this article that we looked at from 1935, but upon closer inspection it would seem…

Tech News Matt Novak

Supersonic Jet Set May Land at Sea (1967)

As I type these words from the relative comfort of a chair 30,000 feet in the sky, I can’t help but marvel at the incredible advancements aviation has made in the last hundred years. Being connected to the internet is but just one thing airline passengers now take for granted as humanity’s ability to move…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Vanity of Human Wishes (1970)

This image was lost some time after publication. Russell Kirk [wikipedia.org]The April 3, 1970 Ada Evening News published a piece by conservative writer Russell Kirk in which he becomes perturbed that the study of the future — which was beginning to be accepted in mainstream academic circles of that time — may be driven by…

Tech News Matt Novak

Televox Entertains High School Students (1930)

The November 20, 1930 Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune (Muscatine, IA) ran a short blurb announcing that Televox — a robot you might remember as the husband of one Mrs. Katrina Van Televox — would be making an appearance at a local Iowa high school. “Televox,” the mechanical man, one of the outstanding miracles of modern…

Tech News Matt Novak

Jean-Marc Côté’s Visions of the Year 2000 (1899)

Back in 2007, when the Paleo-Future blog was just two photos of Jane Jetson and a link to my Friendster profile, I posted some images from the National Library of France that depicted life in the year 2000. I’ve since learned that these prints are from 1899, rather than 1910 as reported by the BnF.…

Tech News Matt Novak

Will Science Harness Sun Power After the War? (1942)

This image was lost some time after publication. In 1942, with World War II raging, people were naturally thinking about what a post-War world might look like. Once the present world-wide orgy of destruction has come to an end, there will be a tremendous job of reconstruction to do. Ruined cities, factories, power stations will…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

Jobs Robots Will Never Do (1983)

First Men to the Moon (1960)

Dawn of the Wireless Phone (1901)

What Happened to the Future?

This Age of Power and Wonder (1930s)

Garco the Robot Retires (1961)

1975 and the Changes to Come (1962)

paleofuture.tv [episode 00000]

paleofuture.tv [episode 00000]

Alpha the Robot Shoots His Inventor (1932)

Radio of the Future (1942)

Space Station (1956)

Electronic Home Library (1959)

Future New York, The City of Skyscrapers (1925)

Will Humanity Annihilate Itself? (1939)

Supersonic Jet Set May Land at Sea (1967)

The Vanity of Human Wishes (1970)

Televox Entertains High School Students (1930)

Jean-Marc Côté’s Visions of the Year 2000 (1899)

Will Science Harness Sun Power After the War? (1942)

NASA Rover Finds Glowing, Ruby-Like Crystals on Mars for the First Time

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