Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Harry Truman and the Year 2000 (1950)

The year 1950, (as we are wont to do with “round” numbered years), provided plenty of predictions of what the second half of the 20th century held. An angry editorial critical of President Harry Truman, (a Missouri native), and his vision for the year 2000 appeared in the January 6, 1950 Sedalia Democrat (Sedalia, MO).…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Family Plane of 2030 A.D. (1930)

The June 15, 1930 Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA) published a piece about the year 2030 as envisioned by F.E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead. Super-airplanes, synthetic food, eugenics and a 16-hour work week are just a few of his predictions. An excerpt about transportation from the piece appears below. Bibliodyssey has a great collection of…

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Space and National Security (1963)

The 1963 U.S. Air Force film Space and National Security envisioned futuristic wars conducted in space. The clip above is taken from the fascinating NOVA episode, Astrospies. Many thanks to Matt Chapman of Homestarrunner.com for bringing this clip to our attention. As Matt points out, the “non-animation animation” is similar in style to many of…

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NASA and the Internet Archive

Last week the Internet Archive announced a partnership with NASA (nasaimages.org) which provides searchable access to video and still images from NASA’s vast archives. Above is a 1957 artist’s rendition of Project Red Socks, which was to be the “world’s first useful moon rocket.” From the press release: NASA and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital…

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Apple Computer in 1997 (1987)

This video from 1987 imagines the Apple Computer company of the year 1997, (tongue planted firmly in cheek). I can’t decide if the iPsychiatrist or the R2D2-style hologram is my favorite Apple innovation through 1997. See also: Apple’s Grey Flannel Navigator (1988) Apple’s Knowledge Navigator (1987) Project 2000 – Apple Computer (1988)

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The Future Is So Yesterday

The Washington Post had an article on Sunday about the new Disney House of the Future. The piece touched on a lot of issues that involve postmodern paleo-futurism and reminds me of a February 23, 1997 New York Times article titled, “Disney Calls Future a Thing of the Past.” An excerpt from the Washington Post…

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Joseph Corn on Future Shock (May 17, 2008)

This past May I sat down with Joseph Corn, co-author of Yesterday’s Tomorrows, to talk about past visions of the future. We chatted over coffee at Brian Horrigan’s house (Brian is the other author of Yesterday’s Tomorrows) about the paleo-future of transportation, robot servants and the end of the world. Joe challenged a lot of…

Tech News Matt Novak

If I Had a Robot (1984)

My girlfriend Malorie sometimes tells the story of a robotics video she watched in 8th grade Science class. One particular robot in this video had a broken wheel and found itself unable to turn. (Or, more appropriately, the robotics team that was steering the hunk of metal found themselves unable to turn the robot.) Malorie…

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The Micro Millennium (1979)

The 1979 book The Micro Millennium heralded the arrival of the microprocessor as a revolution that would forever change our lives. From the back cover of the 1981 paperback edition: By the year 2,000 – 17 years from now – you will live in a world transformed by one tiny, cheap computer chip – the…

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BoingBoing Interviews Syd Mead

Joel Johnson over at BoingBoing Gadgets/BoingBoing TV has a great interview with futurist/artist/genius, Syd Mead. See also:Syd Mead Art for U.S. Steel (1960s)Syd Mead

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The Reluctant Optimist

Yesterday’s Green Bay Press-Gazette (Green Bay, WI) ran a short piece about the Paleo-Future blog: “It’s been quite a journey,” he said. “When I first started the site, I thought I had maybe a month’s worth of material, but I dug deeper and who knew how many different versions of the future had happened during…

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Weather Control of 2000 A.D. (1966)

The 1966 radio documentary 2000 A.D. looked at a number of different issues facing the people of the year 2000. Most of these issues, as we’ve seen in earlier posts, involve figuring out what we’re going to do with our abundant free-time. Won’t people get tremendously bored, only working three days per week? You bet…

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Cornucopia (1993)

According to the company Empruve, this futuristic multimedia device from 1993, “will become as much an integral part of our lives as the telephone, the television, the typewriter and the book.” The photo and its caption (below) were found in the book Understanding Hypermedia. According to Caruso.com the developer costs for Empruve’s Cornucopia were between…

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Mono-Scoot (1965)

This concept painting of a “mono-scoot” personal transportation device was done by Richard H. Arbib in 1965. It is featured in the excellent book Driving Through Futures Past by the Petersen Automotive Museum. See also: No One Will Walk – All Will Have Wheels (1900) Gyroscopic Rocket Car (1945) Cars Detroit Forgot to Build (1950-1960)

Tech News Matt Novak

Movies Will Replace Textbooks (1922)

The 2006 book Future Hype: The Myths of Technology Change by Bob Seidensticker is a fascinating read. From page 103: Schools have had a longstanding immunity against the introduction of new technologies. In 1922 Thomas Edison predicted that movies would replace textbooks. In 1945 one forecaster imagined radios as common as blackboards in classrooms. In…

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Streamlined Cars of the Future

I was quoted today in the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia) for a piece about the past and future of cars. An excerpt appears below. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the developed world began an obsession with outer space. Comic-strip storyboards of domed futuristic cities and multilayered transport systems fired imaginations –…

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Mechanized Stadium of the Future (1958)

The November 2, 1958 edition of Closer Than We Think featured a “mechanized stadium.” The stadium of tomorrow might very well be adaptable to a variety of athletic and other events, thereby solving a practical problem that has long plagued sports promoters. The mechanized arena depicted here contains self-propelled sectional grandstands made of a new…

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Brussels Girl Geek Dinner

Peter Van Wijnaerde recently emailed me and asked for my opinion on various paleo-futuristic topics. He was doing a presentation for the Brussels Girl Geek Dinner and was looking for some insight. I felt bad that I didn’t have much time to contribute but he was able to put together a rather interesting presentation which…

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The Victorian Internet

It is easy to forget (for my generation, anyways) that attempts to make language more efficient did not start with text-messaging. In a piece for the December 1900 Ladies’ Home Journal, John Elfreth Watkins, Jr. predicted that the letters C, X and Q would be deemed unnecessary in the 20th century: There will be no…

Tech News Matt Novak

Nuclear Rocketship (1959)

I take a lot of pride in providing material you can’t find anywhere else on the internet. But there’s an easy way to tell when I’m having a busy week: I steal images from the website Plan59. Still beautiful though, ain’t it? This illustration is by Frank Tinsley from 1959. The image appeared as part…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

Harry Truman and the Year 2000 (1950)

The Family Plane of 2030 A.D. (1930)

Space and National Security (1963)

NASA and the Internet Archive

Apple Computer in 1997 (1987)

The Future Is So Yesterday

Joseph Corn on Future Shock (May 17, 2008)

If I Had a Robot (1984)

The Micro Millennium (1979)

BoingBoing Interviews Syd Mead

The Reluctant Optimist

Weather Control of 2000 A.D. (1966)

Cornucopia (1993)

Mono-Scoot (1965)

Movies Will Replace Textbooks (1922)

Streamlined Cars of the Future

Mechanized Stadium of the Future (1958)

Brussels Girl Geek Dinner

The Victorian Internet

Nuclear Rocketship (1959)

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