Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

French Flying Machines (1890-1900)

These French cards, archived at the Library of Congress, were produced sometime between 1890 and 1900. Most of the cards illustrate important feats from ballooning history between 1795-1846, while card number two (pictured above) depicts futuristic visions of flight from the 1800s. It’s striking how similar these imagined flying machines are to those we looked…

Tech News Matt Novak

A Cashless Future Society? (1968)

The July 24, 1968 Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, NM) ran this piece by Jack Lefler about the possibility of a cashless society that would use a single identification card. NEW YORK (AP) – Want to hunt polar bear in Alaska, entertain your mother-in-law at a Paris restaurant, rent a house-boat for a Mississippi cruise,…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Millennium Bug (1998)

The 1998 book The Millennium Bug by Michael S. Hyatt is pretty pessimistic about mankind’s future, given the “Y2K problem.” Ironically, Mr. Hyatt blogged more recently about cynics who are pessimistic about the future. He says that real leaders “look on the sunny side.” Priceless turnaround. As ridiculous as the hysteria over Y2K may have…

Tech News Matt Novak

Commuting Will Be A Breeze (1957)

The October 22, 1957 Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, MO) ran this image of a flying bus of the future. Commuting will be a breeze in the future, according to a national science magazine, which envisions tomorrow’s workers traveling from home to business at 100 m.p.h. via a ducted-fan flying bus like the one above. The design,…

Tech News Matt Novak

Meal Pill Skeptic (1936)

We’ve looked at plenty of predictions about how, in the future, we’d all be eating meal pills. From turkey dinners to beer to tutti-fruitti, it was a question of when we would enjoy them in pill form, not if we would. But in the October 6, 1936 Jefferson City Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, MO), Dr. Milton…

Tech News Matt Novak

Jetscalator (1960)

Reader Tom Z sent in this March 27, 1960 edition of Closer Than We Think, featuring the “Jetscalator.” Tom explains: This CTWT has held special significance for me (and anyone else who has used Dulles until quite recently). I haven’t flown in years, but I understand that the famous “Mobile Terminals” are finally gone, a…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Universal Writing Formula for Futurism

I can’t believe it took me this long, but I figured out the universal writing formula for futurism! It just clicked after reading a 1980s newspaper article about robots! Let me know what I’m missing: Imagine [ten/twenty/fifty] years in the future. Your [car/toaster/robot] speaks to you. No, it’s not your [friend/mom/crazy fever dream]. Your life…

Tech News Matt Novak

Weather Made to Order? (1954)

Before starting the Paleo-Future blog I had no idea that weather control was such a prominent feature of mid-20th-century futurism. Raised on Jurassic Park’s pop version of chaos theory, I suppose that little Matty was deathly afraid a butterfly beating its wings in Indochina would cause a typhoon in Omaha. And thus, messing with a…

Tech News Matt Novak

Future of Photography (1964)

The September 27, 1964 Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, NC) quotes Wolf Wehran, a representative of the Camera Industries of West Germany, (and probable superhero given his badass name), about the future of photography: “I believe the photo industry will some day eliminate the processing operation as we know it today. They will dehydrate it – that…

Tech News Matt Novak

Report From the Year 2050 (1984)

My interest in futurism can probably be credited to two things: Disney’s EPCOT Center and children’s science books of the 1980s and 90s. One of my earliest posts here at the Paleo-Future blog covered the EPCOT Center book, The Future World of Transportation. I vividly recall checking out the three books in this series from…

Tech News Matt Novak

Hello and Welcome (Back)

Oh, hello! Good to see you! It’s been awhile. Glad you’re still with us. Haven’t blogged in a couple months but I hear it’s just like riding a bicycle, you never forget how. Unless maybe you go batshit crazy and drive around the West Coast aimlessly for two weeks. Then blogging is probably less like…

Tech News Matt Novak

California Cities in the Year 2000 (1961)

The March 12, 1961 Independent Star-News (Pasadena, CA) ran an article which heavily quotes Ed Dolker, deputy director of the California Department of Natural Resources. A short excerpt appears below. You can read the entire article here. “There will be 60 million people in California in the year 2000,” Dolder said. “There will be two…

Tech News Matt Novak

Super-Highway of Tomorrow (1939)

While not spectacular to someone from 2008, this illustration of the “super-highway of tomorrow” was quite extraordinary to people attending the 1939 New York World’s Fair. A concept drawing for the original Futurama, this image was found in the Official Guide Book to the 1939 World’s Fair. Read more: Official Guide Book: 1939 World’s Fair…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Inevitable Flying Car (USA Today)

You may have noticed a certain paleo-futurist quoted in yesterday’s USA Today: Matt Novak, however, remains unconvinced. The host of Paleofuture.com, a blog that looks at past predictions of the future, says flying cars look even further away these days. “We had this sort of optimism in the ’50s and ’60s, a feeling that things…

Tech News Matt Novak

RCA’s Two Thousand (1969)

Remember when adding “2000” to a product name was shorthand for futuristic, cutting-edge technology? In 1969 RCA invited the American public to “take a leap into the year 2000” with a new television set called The Two Thousand. Selling a limited edition of 2,000 sets at $2,000 a pop, (about $12,000 in 2008 dollars), The…

Tech News Matt Novak

Aerial Mono-Flyer of the Future (1918)

The August, 1918 cover of Hugo Gernsback’s Electrical Experimenter magazine featured the “aerial mono-flyer of the future.” This monorail seems like only a modest improvement in safety over the 1930’s sightseeing death-trap known as the sky toboggan. But the mono-flyer is assuredly a less safe concept than the monorail of William H. Boyes, built around…

Tech News Matt Novak

Cigarettes of the Year 2000 (1944)

Making things smaller and more efficient has, at least since the Industrial Revolution, been a staple of American futurist thinking. A women’s dinner event in 1944 included “The Year 2000” as its theme and even the cigarettes were “concentrated.” From the January 26, 1944 Maryville Daily Forum (Maryville, MO): The group was served food suggestive…

Tech News Matt Novak

Computers: Get Used to Them! (1982)

I would argue that the most funny, edgy and entertaining writing in the U.S. does not come from The Onion, but from high school newspapers. Granted, the humor coming from the Hormonal Fourth Estate may be largely unintentional, but it can be hilarious nonetheless. As editor of the “Reviews” section of my high school newspaper…

Tech News Matt Novak

Bloodless Surgery, Closer Than We Think! (1959)

The November 15, 1959 edition of Closer Than We Think, (syndicated by the Chicago Tribune, written and illustrated by Arthur Radebaugh), predicted “bloodless surgery.” With the development of an “atomic knife,” tomorrow’s hospital operations may be as easy on the patient as relaxing in an easy chair – no incisions, no bleeding. The technique has…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Future of Futurism

A June 29, 2006 Slate piece by Reihan Salam reflects on futurism and had some fascinating insights. An excerpt appears below. Even so, it’s not fair to say that all futurism is misguided. Just most of it. In his 1976 Time essay “Is There Any Future in Futurism?” Stefan Kanfer wrote that you could divide…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

French Flying Machines (1890-1900)

A Cashless Future Society? (1968)

The Millennium Bug (1998)

Commuting Will Be A Breeze (1957)

Meal Pill Skeptic (1936)

Jetscalator (1960)

The Universal Writing Formula for Futurism

Weather Made to Order? (1954)

Future of Photography (1964)

Report From the Year 2050 (1984)

Hello and Welcome (Back)

California Cities in the Year 2000 (1961)

Super-Highway of Tomorrow (1939)

The Inevitable Flying Car (USA Today)

RCA’s Two Thousand (1969)

Aerial Mono-Flyer of the Future (1918)

Cigarettes of the Year 2000 (1944)

Computers: Get Used to Them! (1982)

Bloodless Surgery, Closer Than We Think! (1959)

The Future of Futurism

China’s Biggest Social Media Celebrity Is… Kris Jenner?

Up to $1,550 Off on pCloud: Pay Once, Protect Data Forever for World Backup Day

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

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

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

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

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets