Quote:
Originally Posted by John Jarrold  Sigh. SF is not about prediction. |
No, it's not about prediction, but since much is made of instances when it
has made accurate predictions, I think it's interesting to reflect on developments nobody, including SF writers, ever dreamed of ... as well visions of the future that didn't come to pass. It's not a knock on science fiction, but it does give an idea of what our expectations were, 40, 50, or 60 years ago.
In my youth, most people believed that by the year 2000 practically everyone would be living in towering skyscrapers, driving air cars, waited on by robots, and running their households with wall-sized computers, which would also allow us to press a few buttons and produce a fully cooked dinner of synthesized food. (No, I'm not just thinking of
The Jetsons.)