New Articles From Paleofuture in February
From 1980s nostalgia to another flying car company biting the dust, these were the articles you may have missed.
The Columnist Who Wondered in 1983 Whether People of 2023 Would Have Nostalgia For the Early 1980s
The early 1980s was a rough time for a lot of Americans. The recession of 1981-1982 saw unemployment peaking at 10.8% and GDP falling 2.8%. And it’s with that in mind that a columnist from the year 1983 wondered: Will people of the future—specifically 40 years into the future—think of the early 1980s fondly?
This Clever Light-Up Billboard From 1935 Was All About Saving Energy
Light-up advertising signs that can be seen in the dark are extremely commonplace here in the 21st century. But back in the 1930s, they were still a bit of a novelty, especially because the cost of maintaining them with bulbs and electricity was relatively high. But this idea, to only light the sign when someone passes by, was supposed to fix all that.
Tony Curtis, Arthur C. Clarke, and John Cleese All Imagined in 1988 What Humans Should Look Like in the Future
The October 1988 issue of Omni featured a cover that promised an in-depth look at the future of cloning and asked a large selection of famous people what they’d do with a God-like power to create humanity from scratch.
Flying Car Company AeroMobil Closes Down After 9 Years of Promising the Future Was Just Over the Horizon
AeroMobil, the European company that’s been promising humanity a flying car since 2014, will be closing down, according to a new report from the Slovak Spectator. AeroMobil was unable to secure enough money in its latest round of fundraising and will declare bankruptcy, according to the Spectator.
President of the AMA Predicted a Future of Computerized Health Care in 1959
Today, digital records allow doctors to search the latest research and assist in coming up with a diagnosis without the need to crack the spine on some dusty old books. But something as simple as searching a database with medical information from anywhere in the world was just a futuristic dream in 1959. And experts of the time were promising that it was coming.
‘They Are Turning Into a Very Nervous Set of Human Beings’: A Warning From the 1940s About Letting Kids Watch Scary Movies
Gladys Bevans wrote a column in the August 12, 1942 edition of the New York Daily News, opening with an anecdote about a woman who let her kids go to the movies. According to Bevans, the show was a “super-sophisticated love story” followed by a horror movie. That double feature included short films, typical of the time, which means the kids were occupied for three hours, based on the columnist’s estimation.
Hugo Gernsback's Complaint About 3D Movies in the 1930s Is Identical to the Metaverse's Biggest Problem
Back in 1935, sci-fi publisher Hugo Gernsback wrote an article about the future of 3D movies. And it’s incredible how much his predictions seem relevant to the current crop of virtual reality headsets, especially as large social media platforms like Facebook are struggling to get people excited about the metaverse.
A Warning From 1966 About Treating Computers Like Humans
I recently stumbled upon a talk given at a computer conference in 1966 that seemed to have plenty of parallels to the 2020s. The talk, titled “The Importance of Not Treating a Computer System as a Person,” warned about the ways computer professionals had adopted language that seemed to anthropomorphize computers processing data. And it made me think of all the ways we’re talking about the newly emerging technologies of so-called “artificial intelligence” today.
The 'Last Babies' on Earth Were Supposed to Look Like Space Aliens
I’ve been seeing this image circulating on Twitter and Reddit in recent weeks, declaring that the “last baby” was going to be born in 2012. But what’s going on here, and why does the last baby born on Earth look like E.T.?