Utopia

15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years

The 2000s left us feeling battered, but the 2010s are looking awesome. Thanks to recent scientific research and an explosion of cultural interest in science fiction, there are at least 15 brilliant reasons to stick around for another decade. Image by Dan Lydersen. 15. Lost returns Sure, it may not last for the entire decade,…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 30

Marge Piercy Explains The Difference Between Utopian And Dystopian Science Fiction

Marge Piercy explored both utopian and dystopian futures in Woman On The Edge Of Time, and she explained the difference between the two modes of imagining the future, in a speech at the University of New Mexico. Said Piercy, the impulse that drives us to imagine a utopian future is the fact that “You have…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Jun 11

What Computers Will Look Like in Utopia, According to Microsoft

Here you can see what Microsoft thinks the future holds, at least when it comes to computers and the internet. This is part of a short film by Oh Hello made for the PC giant, which requested a glimpse of the “not so distant utopian future.” I actually think this depiction of future interfaces is…

io9 Annalee Newitz Mar 18

Say Hello to Your Shiny, Happy Future

Just as we were asking ourselves when this dreary dystopian fad was going to wear off, news comes from a sunnier side of the universe. We’ve been plagued with so many movies and books that paint the future as a big, bad place to live that I’ve started to wonder if I should build a…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis Nov 2

Ephemerisle Is Waterworld With a More Realistic Budget

Last Friday, Milton Friedman’s grandson Patri Friedman and his fledgling Seasteading Institute had their first ever conference. Equipped with half a million dollars from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, the Institute wants to eventually build a fixed, independent structure off the coast of San Francisco called Ephemerisle that will function as an anarcho-capitalist utopia. The idea…

io9 Alex Carnevale Oct 18

Could You Live in a World Without Women?

With the Y: The Last Man film coming in 2010, we’ll soon get a big-screen treatment of Brian K. Vaughan’s world without men. All-female societies are not uncommon in science fiction, from culturally advanced utopias to post-apocalyptic sex comedies. Far less common are societies where men live, either by choice or circumstance, with few or…

io9 Lauren Davis Oct 7

Visual Voicemail Coming to Verizon… For a Price

Rumor has it that Verizon Wireless will be joining AT&T and Sprint in offering visual voicemail, in this case on four upcoming phones: LG’s Chocolate 3 and an updated Voyager (possible software update but more likely hardware refresh), along with the mysteriously code-named “Blaze” and “Utopia” from Motorola. That’s more phones than any other carrier…

Tech News Benny Goldman Jun 17

The Technotopia of 2000 (1962)

In 1962 the French weekly l’Express postulated about a technologically advanced utopia in the year 2000. By the year 2000 all food will be completely synthetic. Agriculture and fisheries will have become superfluous. The world’s population will by then have increased fourfold but will have stabilized. Sea water and ordinary rocks will yield all the…

Tech News Matt Novak Jun 2

Welcome to Junk City

One of Japanese artist Enoki Chu’s newest installations is RPM-1200, a futuristic, crescent-shaped skyline made with pieces of junk metal polished to a brilliant shine. You can’t tell from the picture, but this is an impressive sculpture that stands 11 feet tall and has a diameter of 15 feet. You also might never guess that…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Jan 7

The End of the Future (1991)

In his 1991 book, Facing Tomorrow, author Thomas Hine opens with a decidedly pessimistic tone. The first chapter, “The End of the Future,” expresses a feeling of betrayal that the world did not provide the future humanity was promised. An excerpt from that chapter appears below. For at least two decades, no compelling, comprehensive vision…

Tech News Matt Novak Oct 25

Disco Skating In The Twenty-Fifth Century With Buck Rogers

If you don’t know why the early-1980s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series is damn near perfect, then this clip from the episode “Escape from Wedded Bliss” will explain it all to you. Earth is in danger because evil Princess Ardala (wearing the purple spangly lingerie and tiara) has declared that she’ll use…

Television Annalee Newitz Oct 9

Technology and Man’s Future (1972)

The introduction to the book Technology and Man’s Future has a tone appropriate for 1972. The words seem to offer a first glimpse into true disillusionment with early 20th century futurism. And yet, the book nurtures remnants of optimism; of hope that the future may hold some version, however imperfect, of that shiny, happy future.…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 21

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy

I started reading the 1888 classic utopian novel Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy. I’ll be blogging about it on a “whenever I damn well feel like it” basis and I invite you to follow along at home. You can either read it free here or here or you can do what I did and buy…

Tech News Matt Novak Feb 12

15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years

Marge Piercy Explains The Difference Between Utopian And Dystopian Science Fiction

What Computers Will Look Like in Utopia, According to Microsoft

Say Hello to Your Shiny, Happy Future

Ephemerisle Is Waterworld With a More Realistic Budget

Could You Live in a World Without Women?

Visual Voicemail Coming to Verizon… For a Price

The Technotopia of 2000 (1962)

Welcome to Junk City

The End of the Future (1991)

Disco Skating In The Twenty-Fifth Century With Buck Rogers

Technology and Man’s Future (1972)

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy

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