Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Computers the size of a room (1970)

While this image of the 1954 “computer of the future” is a hoax that still manages to pop up whenever the topic turns to paleo-futurism, I recently came across a hilarious quote from the 1970 book The End of the Twentieth Century? along much the same line of thinking. This excerpt, from page 71, illustrates…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 9 '07

Paleo-Future Forum

If you look to the sidebar you’ll see that I’ve included a link to a new forum on Google Groups dedicated to Paleo-Future. This forum will hopefully allow for more interactivity and allow readers of Paleo-Future a place to discuss paleo-futurism and present-day futurism, share resources and bring attention to important links. I’ve started the…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 9 '07

Undersea Cities (1954)

Rather than a floating city, today we have an image of undersea cities from the book Out of Time: Designs for the Twentieth-Century Future. The book says that the image was published on the cover of if magazine in January of 1954. The most perplexing choice of the artist is why some of the “undersea…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 9 '07

Connections: AT&T’s Vision of the Future (Part 1, 1993)

There are no language barriers in the paleo-future. In 1993 AT&T produced a fourteen minute video called Connections: AT&T’s Vision of the Future. It looks like it had quite a large budget but I can’t figure out who the audience was for such a video. It has a similar feel to AT&T’s "You Will" TV…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 6 '07

Virtual Reality (1980s-today)

10 Zen Monkeys has a great article about the paleo-futuristic promise of Virtual Reality. As the article points out, we may have things like Second Life, which is mentally gripping but is far less physically immersive than what was projected. I remember looking at Nintendo’s Virtual Boy in the mid-90s and thinking, “Finally! It’s just…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 6 '07

Fusion Energy in Space (1984)

The caption to this photo reads, “Fusion energy may someday power spacecraft on journeys beyond the solar system, but its first uses will be on earth, perhaps by the decade of 2010.” From the EPCOT Center book The Future World of Energy. See also: The Future World of Transportation The Future World of Energy (1984)

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 5 '07

The Prophetic Year 2000 (1968)

In his 1968 book Criswell Predicts “psychic” Jeron Criswell persuaded with impeccable logic. Because no prophets have mentioned any year after 2000 the world will most surely come to an end before that year. “A study of all prophets – Nostradomus, St. Odile, Mother Shipton, the Bible – indicates that we will cease to exist…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 5 '07

The Tricentennial Report: Letters From America (1977)

Paleo-Future reader Mr. Wallace recently inquired about an advertisement he came across many years ago that asked people to send in their ideas of what the year 2076 would look like. After some searching I found a book called the Tricentennial Report: Letters From America, sponsored by the Atlantic Richfield Company and published in 1977.…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 5 '07

Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)

While browsing the Chicago Tribune archives this past weekend I came across this feature from May 4, 1952. It highlights fashion designs from Jacques Heim, Marcel Rochas, Madame Carven and Jacques Griffe. “What will women wear in the year 2000? A photographer put the question to leading Paris couturiers, who took the wraps off their…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 4 '07

Collier’s Illustrated Future of 2001 (1901)

Today we have a follow-up to Monday’s post about Arthur Palm, the 14-year-old from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who in 1901 made predictions about what the world of 2001 might look like. The editors of the book Yesterday’s Future: The Twentieth Century Begins (Voices of the Wisconsin Past) suggest that Arthur Palm’s article in his school newspaper…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 4 '07

TWA Advertisement (1963)

The image above is a TWA advertisement from 1963. The ad features some great paleo-future design and can be found in the book The Golden Age of Advertising – The 60s.

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 4 '07

Challenge of Outer Space (circa 1950s)

Wernher von Braun begins the film Challenge of Outer Space by saying, "The conquest of outer space is the greatest technological challenge of the age in which we live." Even before a manned mission to the moon the nation’s top space scientists were speculating about what space stations would look like. I find it difficult…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 3 '07

Apple’s Knowledge Navigator (1987)

In 1987 Apple Computer produced a concept video for a hypothetical product called the Knowledge Navigator. Having a normal conversation with your computer as though you were conversing with a friend seems to be the most paleo-futuristic aspect of this video. The inefficiency of such a system certainly raises questions about the user interfaces of…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 3 '07

‘Summer Terrace’ All Year Round (1960s)

The image above is the “home of the future” where “electrically operated climate-conditioned extensions will permit ‘summer terraces’ all at will by your electricity.” The text for this ad from America’s Independent Electric Light and Power Companies is featured below. The ad can be found in the book The Golden Age of Advertising – The…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 3 '07

Population Close to “Standing Room Only” (Chicago Tribune, 1899)

The April 30, 1899 Chicago Tribune article, “Population Close to ‘Standing Room Only'” seems like it could be written today with just a few dates and statistics changed. Much like the fear of population growth we’ve explored in Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 book The Population Bomb, the article warns of a dangerous population explosion. If the…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 2 '07

The Future World of Energy (1984)

While paging through the EPCOT Center Book: The Future World of Energy, published in 1984, I noticed that even images demonstrating positive advances in the field of energy production took on a distinctly dystopian illustration style. The image below shows something the book’s authors clearly believe to be an advancement in technology. But I can’t…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 2 '07

The Predictions of a 14-Year-Old (Milwaukee Excelsior, 1901)

In the year 1901 Arthur Palm, a fourteen-year-old student from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, published an article in his school newspaper (the Excelsior) describing the world of 2001. Below is an excerpt of his article as featured in the book Yesterday’s Future: The Twentieth Century Begins (Voices of the Wisconsin Past). “How it may appear a hundred…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 2 '07

Century 21: Space Needle Designs (1962)

In a way, Seattle has a permanent piece of the paleo-future. The always amazing blog BibliOdyssey has a great post titled Century 21 Exposition. It features proposed designs for the Space Needle and the fairgrounds for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair (also known as the Century 21 Exposition). For an amusing film following teenagers through…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 30 '07

Olympic Games on the Moon in 2020 (1979)

For those of you who can’t get enough of the book Future Cities: Homes and Living into the 21st Century, here are the Olympic Games of the year 2020 which, of course, will be on the moon. After a Moon city is established the ‘Moonies’ will “want the prestige of holding a major world event.”…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 30 '07

Nuclear War Revisited (2006)

In case a flyer wasn’t clear enough, the House of Yahweh posted video of their September 12, 2006 nuclear war prophecy. “Prophecy shows that nuclear war will start September the 12th, 2006. A third part of the people will be killed over a fourth part of the earth. If you live this long you are…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 30 '07

Matt Novak

Computers the size of a room (1970)

Paleo-Future Forum

Undersea Cities (1954)

Connections: AT&T’s Vision of the Future (Part 1, 1993)

Virtual Reality (1980s-today)

Fusion Energy in Space (1984)

The Prophetic Year 2000 (1968)

The Tricentennial Report: Letters From America (1977)

Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)

Collier’s Illustrated Future of 2001 (1901)

TWA Advertisement (1963)

Challenge of Outer Space (circa 1950s)

Apple’s Knowledge Navigator (1987)

‘Summer Terrace’ All Year Round (1960s)

Population Close to “Standing Room Only” (Chicago Tribune, 1899)

The Future World of Energy (1984)

The Predictions of a 14-Year-Old (Milwaukee Excelsior, 1901)

Century 21: Space Needle Designs (1962)

Olympic Games on the Moon in 2020 (1979)

Nuclear War Revisited (2006)

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