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The Internet in 1969

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Re: The Internet in 1969

#2

Post by philwelch »

I like how they accurately predicted a lot of the technology, but got the sociology all wrong. Was it really so difficult to predict in 1969 that women wouldn't all be stay at home mothers? Or (more realistically) just too controversial at the time to casually suggest that the wondrous world of the future would have women working, rather than spending all their time at home shopping online while their husbands are at work scowling at the bill?

Re: The Internet in 1969

#3

Post by barrkel »

philwelch wrote: post #2

I like how they accurately predicted a lot of the technology, but got the sociology all wrong. Was it really so difficult to predict in 1969 that women wouldn't all be stay at home mothers? Or (more realistically) just too controversial at the time to casually suggest that the wondrous world of the future would have women working, rather than spending all their time at home shopping online while their husbands are at…

This is a general flaw of predicting the future: people usually try to extrapolate along a single axis to see what will happen, all other things being equal. This is the model of:

    the future = the present +
- now what are the ramifications?

The problem is that it's really difficult to bring all the other innovations and changes into the picture, and predict how those innovations will synergize (and antagonize) with one another.

Re: The Internet in 1969

#5

Post by nfnaaron »

philwelch wrote: post #2

I like how they accurately predicted a lot of the technology, but got the sociology all wrong. Was it really so difficult to predict in 1969 that women wouldn't all be stay at home mothers? Or (more realistically) just too controversial at the time to casually suggest that the wondrous world of the future would have women working, rather than spending all their time at home shopping online while their husbands are at…

"Was it really so difficult to predict in 1969 that women wouldn't all be stay at home mothers?"

Maybe not difficult to predict, but easy to deny and ignore. I was 12 in 69, and "women's lib" (liberation) was a current term, which could either be used positively or negatively.

Re: The Internet in 1969

#7

Post by ugh »

msujaws wrote: post #6

Didn't it seem odd that they also predicted moving to LCD's and away from CRTs? I'm calling shenanigans on this video.

That’s not necessarily odd. 2001 (that movie is from 1968) had all sorts of flat displays, even small TV pads. Paper already is flat and has been forever, so the concept of flat displays is not even innovative or new, it’s all just about overcoming technical hurdles.

(That said I would certainly like to know more about this video, who produced it and for what purpose.)

Re: The Internet in 1969

#8

Post by kept »

ugh wrote: post #7
msujaws wrote: post #6

Didn't it seem odd that they also predicted moving to LCD's and away from CRTs? I'm calling shenanigans on this video.

That’s not necessarily odd. 2001 (that movie is from 1968) had all sorts of flat displays, even small TV pads. Paper already is flat and has been forever, so the concept of flat displays is not even innovative or new, it’s all just about overcoming technical hurdles. (That said I would certainly like to know more about this video, who produced it and for what purpose.)

"In 1967 the Philco-Ford Corporation released a short film titled 1999 A.D. In it the inevitable advances of the future are demonstrated."

From here: http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2007/4/30/1999-ad-1967.html

Another one on the same site: http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2009/12/6/jet-set-in-1999-ad...

Re: The Internet in 1969

#10

Post by afiler »

msujaws wrote: post #6

Didn't it seem odd that they also predicted moving to LCD's and away from CRTs? I'm calling shenanigans on this video.

I figured the concept for the display devices was based on microfilm/microfiche readers rather than CRTs. Microfilm was "high-tech" back then, and Vannevar Bush's Memex (of a couple decades earlier) was microfilm-based.
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