Got a prediction for the future? Maybe one from the past that was prescient? Or do you have one of your own about the future that you want to make today?

 

AT&T had the future nailed 30 years ago in 1993.

 

Of course they didn't say anything about the unexpected $200 "phone" bill. But you will, and AT&T is the company that will bring it you...

 

 

They didn't predict that everyone would start taking pictures of themselves.

I predict that whatever new technologies develop, they will be mostly used for porn or narcissism.

I have been absolutely horrible at predicting "the future". It has turned out nothing like I expected.

The future ain't what it used to be.

6 hours ago, Lazarus said:

They didn't predict that everyone would start taking pictures of themselves.

That was for the Spice TV ads that you watched through squiggly lines.

AT&T was wrong about wishing your child goodnight from a payphone. 

7 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

AT&T was wrong about wishing your child goodnight from a payphone. 

 

National Record Store Day was this weekend.   At some point around it, I typically end up asking when National Payphone Day or National Video Rental Store Day are.

Well, at least we rotated the topic back to the thread:)

It's funny, how in the 80s and 90s, the future was all about how we would transport ourselves.  Flying cars, hoverboards, even time machines.  There was no focus on communication/social connectivity, which is where it went.  My thought is the future entails further development in battery technology which will have an effect on so many things we do.  Home appliance, curling irons, hair dryers etc without plugs.  And much bigger things eventually too.  

12 hours ago, Jenny said:

It's funny, how in the 80s and 90s, the future was all about how we would transport ourselves.  Flying cars, hoverboards, even time machines.  There was no focus on communication/social connectivity, which is where it went.  My thought is the future entails further development in battery technology which will have an effect on so many things we do.  Home appliance, curling irons, hair dryers etc without plugs.  And much bigger things eventually too.  

 

I was driving towards downtown on 90 the other morning, and it occurred to me that the only visible thing that had changed since the 80s that wasn’t simply a matter of style was the signage, specifically on Cleveland Browns Stadium.    The buildings aren’t profoundly different, the cars are bigger but are still obviously cars, the roads are still the roads.

 

The vast majority of change has been the handling and communication of information.   For people in general, that means our phones.   Someone once said on these boards “the phones ruined everything” and that’s far from the truth.  They changed a lot of things, including the way we communicate, the way we plan, the way we learn, and the way we entertain ourselves.    To a large degree, they individualized our lives.   Some oppose this trend of course, but enough of a majority does not, at least in practice, to make it a megatrend.

 

Battery and storage technology is indeed the key.  It will further untether us from chargers and other fixed sources of power.  It will also make discretionary sources of energy such as solar and wind convertible to on-demand, which makes them much more viable sources of supply.

 

Solar collectors in space charging efficient batteries and returning them to Earth would be the biggest game changer in human history with the possible exception of fusion energy and material separation.

Edited April 25, 20232 yr by E Rocc

https://every.to/p/battery-technology-changed-the-world-and-then-it-stalled