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Post by ShadowSouL on Jan 3, 2021 2:53:12 GMT
What did you think the last 20 years would be like?
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jan 3, 2021 3:11:16 GMT
1990?
I thought after defeating the hole in the ozone layer, the 21st century would be an environmental booming economy. We might get there still, alas another 3-4 decades from finally realizing how stupid the fossil fuel world truly was.
I was aware there'd be computers in practically every room of a home & office, even as visually crooked that imagined back in the day. When it was suggested our toasters & lamps would be connected, I didn't really know what that entailed, or why.
I thought super speed travel would be more prominent, though hyper trains seem more than pipe dreams lately.
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Post by ShadowSouL on Jan 3, 2021 3:44:18 GMT
1990? I thought after defeating the hole in the ozone layer, the 21st century would be an environmental booming economy. We might get there still, alas another 3-4 decades from finally realizing how stupid the fossil fuel world truly was. I was aware there'd be computers in practically every room of a home & office, even as visually crooked that imagined back in the day. When it was suggested our toasters & lamps would be connected, I didn't really know what that entailed, or why. I thought super speed travel would be more prominent, though hyper trains seem more than pipe dreams lately. Interesting thoughts. I never thought that handheld Internet-connected computers, touchscreen interfaces, and laptops with personal video/audio communications capacity, like on Star Trek: The Next Generation, would be as prevalent as they are today, let alone even come into existence in my lifetime. Even the airborne magic screens in Minority Report should not be far off, especially as the whole touchscreen swiping thing was only five to ten years after that movie. Even 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted video phones, and that basically became reality within ten years of the actual year 2001. But 2021 is way behind 2017 as depicted in Back to the Future Part III, with its flying cars and flying skateboards. And we're also still way behind 2019 as depicted in Blade Runner, and I don't think 2049 is going to quite look like Blade Runner 2049. But as a kid in the 1980s, I thought yes, maybe that's what 2017 and 2019 could and would look like. Although the 2017 of Back to the Future Part III looks more like 2021 than the 2019 of Blade Runner does. And I had a feeling that the transparent aluminum of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home would become reality in my lifetime. Otherwise I don't think they would have risked having transparent aluminum be retro-invented in the film's time travel setting of 1986, even though it took 20 to 30 years for it to happen.
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jan 3, 2021 4:01:43 GMT
1990? I thought after defeating the hole in the ozone layer, the 21st century would be an environmental booming economy. We might get there still, alas another 3-4 decades from finally realizing how stupid the fossil fuel world truly was. I was aware there'd be computers in practically every room of a home & office, even as visually crooked that imagined back in the day. When it was suggested our toasters & lamps would be connected, I didn't really know what that entailed, or why. I thought super speed travel would be more prominent, though hyper trains seem more than pipe dreams lately. Interesting thoughts. I never thought that handheld Internet-connected computers, touchscreen interfaces, and laptops with personal video/audio communications capacity, like on Star Trek: The Next Generation, would be as prevalent as they are today, let alone even come into existence in my lifetime. Even the airborne magic screens in Minority Report should not be far off, especially as the whole touchscreen swiping thing was only five to ten years after that movie. Even 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted video phones, and that basically became reality within ten years of the actual year 2001. But 2021 is way behind 2017 as depicted in Back to the Future Part III, with its flying cars and flying skateboards. And we're also still way behind 2019 as depicted in Blade Runner, and I don't think 2049 is going to quite look like Blade Runner 2049. But as a kid in the 1980s, I thought yes, maybe that's what 2017 and 2019 could and would look like. Although the 2017 of Back to the Future Part III looks more like 2021 than the 2019 of Blade Runner does. And I had a feeling that the transparent aluminum of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home would become reality in my lifetime. Otherwise I don't think they would have risked having transparent aluminum be retro-invented in the film's time travel setting of 1986, even though it took 20 to 30 years for it to happen. I remember with friends joking that whatever is in Bill Gates' home today will be in ours 20 years from now. I believe Gates in the 90's had the touchless vocal command stuff, A.I., his entire house connected & online... stuff like that.
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Post by Schwarzwald Magnus on Jan 3, 2021 5:23:35 GMT
Well I was a toddler 30 years ago.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Jan 3, 2021 12:59:33 GMT
I was not born 40 years ago, and i was 7 years old 30 years ago. so i did not think much about what the future would be like.
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Post by Catman 猫的主人 on Jan 3, 2021 14:12:36 GMT
Catman never imagined people would once again need much bigger pockets to carry their cell phones or that cell phone ads would tout every feature one could imagine except for how the phones function as phones.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2021 15:23:38 GMT
I thought people would be partying like its 1999, and alas they were!
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Post by ShadowSouL on Jan 3, 2021 21:30:58 GMT
Well I was a toddler 30 years ago. So how about 20 years ago?
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Post by ShadowSouL on Jan 3, 2021 21:31:35 GMT
I was not born 40 years ago, and i was 7 years old 30 years ago. so i did not think much about what the future would be like. Because you were pretty much raised in "the future"!
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Post by ShadowSouL on Jan 3, 2021 21:31:52 GMT
I thought people would be partying like its 1999, and alas they were! Cool!
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Post by ShadowSouL on Jan 3, 2021 21:32:40 GMT
Catman never imagined people would once again need much bigger pockets to carry their cell phones or that cell phone ads would tout every feature one could imagine except for how the phones function as phones. "I don't know how to use the phone on my phone." -- Lenny, The Simpsons
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Post by Schwarzwald Magnus on Jan 4, 2021 2:07:29 GMT
Well I was a toddler 30 years ago. So how about 20 years ago? I was thinking how technology seemed to stagnate at that time. You had 1880 where there was no electricity and everyone rode carriages but 40 years later, you had early skyscrapers, cars, electricity, radio, telephones and other cool things. But there didn't seem to be nearly as much difference between the 1970s and the 2000. Just cultural changes. It's somewhat true today too. The biggest differences are sub-visual with social media and smart phones. But the only real difference you see walking around is newer looking cars and even then the difference is slowing down.
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Post by mecano04 on Jan 4, 2021 3:28:39 GMT
Well I wasn't very old 30 years ago but growing up in the 90's I can say that my vision of the years ahead was something in line with the world, as I got told it was and somewhat "promised" it would be.
I didn't expect the "wake up calls" to be so drastic.
TO put it differently, I didn't expect cynicism and indifference to be as widespread as they are.
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Post by darkreviewer2013 on Jan 4, 2021 7:48:41 GMT
Wasn't around 40 years ago.
30 years ago would have been 1991 and I was only 7 years old at the time, so I didn't think about the future, except for perhaps the immediate future (i.e. upcoming birthdays).
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jan 4, 2021 21:56:15 GMT
Well I wasn't very old 30 years ago but growing up in the 90's I can say that my vision of the years ahead was something in line with the world, as I got told it was and somewhat "promised" it would be. I didn't expect the "wake up calls" to be so drastic. TO put it differently, I didn't expect cynicism and indifference to be as widespread as they are. I've thought about all the bad news of the 21st century, & yet nothing is really all that different other than news feeds are 24/7/365. It's not that there's more bad news, it's just everyone is more aware of bad news accessible whenever. 20th century had POTUS head shot off & kids crawling under desks to avoid nuclear meltdown. Imagine twitter from every decade in history... we're just more of the same.
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Post by mecano04 on Jan 5, 2021 0:38:42 GMT
Well I wasn't very old 30 years ago but growing up in the 90's I can say that my vision of the years ahead was something in line with the world, as I got told it was and somewhat "promised" it would be. I didn't expect the "wake up calls" to be so drastic. TO put it differently, I didn't expect cynicism and indifference to be as widespread as they are. I've thought about all the bad news of the 21st century, & yet nothing is really all that different other than news feeds are 24/7/365. It's not that there's more bad news, it's just everyone is more aware of bad news accessible whenever. 20th century had POTUS head shot off & kids crawling under desks to avoid nuclear meltdown. Imagine twitter from every decade in history... we're just more of the same. I agree it could be argued that consciousness "creates" the issues and it somehow validates the saying that ignorance is bliss but I was thinking more broadly, covering both thing that make the news, like climate change, and those that have way less coverage but should still be addressed, like the fact that universities have become nothing more than cash grabbing enterprises at the expense of students (at least in Québec).
For the universities, my point isn't whether it's something new or not but the fact that the majority of students don't effin care about it. In fact they embrace the loans and getting money out of their pockets while getting in debt above their head despite acknowledging that there is something wrong with this way of proceeding. And that's only one issue within the universities and only one issue within the education system but there isn't much action taken to solve that.
That's the cynicism and indifference to which I was in part referring too.
It can also be "applied" in other fields or on other subjects too.
Some issues may be as old as humanity itself but what I tried to convey in the first sentence of my first post (and to put it in other words) is that growing up, I was told that in time I could join the "party" and enjoy it like everybody else but when I finally got there, the music had stopped, the lights were on, some had already left, the cleaning had begun and there wasn't much left for me to do except pick up the tab.
And to my dismay, way more people than I expected are fine with that.
Put it on the fact that I may be younger or that I live in a different bubble but that's where I am at right now.
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