2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics) • Hacker News Board

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#51

Post by jodrellblank » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:44 PM UTC

georgecmu wrote: post #37

itsnotvalid wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They even got the helicopter and humvee right (sort of). The people in 1900s have over-estimated the usage of robotic arms. We don't have that kind of arms working on human yet, but we do have them on automotive manufacturing.

They even got the helicopter and humvee right (sort of). The French started experimenting with helicopters in 1906, so it's not that surprising. The people in 1900s have over-estimated the usage of robotic arms. We don't have that kind of arms working on human yet, but we do have them on automotive manufacturing. We don't have robotic arms in consumer products yet (I believe this will change in the next 10 years), bu…

We don't have robotic arms in consumer products yet (I believe this will change in the next 10 years)

Why do you believe that?

The best use I've come up with for them is for disabled people - a *plegic with a robot arm on a desk able to manipulate post, or on wheels able to be an avatar in the real world.

But that's the sort of profitable insurance-funded medical use which still isn't around. Currently they only exist in consumer space in the arm-for-amputees sense, and in the Lego Technics sense, and I expect that to continue, but where else would they start appearing for consumer products?

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#52

Post by moomba » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:44 PM UTC

Glad I didn't live in that future. As has been said by others, predictions of the future often tell you more about the society making the prediction than what will actually come to pass.

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#53

Post by hernan7 » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:45 PM UTC

I'm with those that think these were supposed to be comical.

BTW, related: the 1905 French time-warp house

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/02/18/france.timewa...

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#54

Post by Vivtek » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:46 PM UTC

xster wrote: post #5

the artist clearly isn't a union member, replacing all the jobs with robots

Except for videophone operator, and pill waiter, and record butler.

I love the way the futuristic technology is placed into a 1910 social context!

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#55

Post by iwwr » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:46 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #44

51Cards wrote: post #13

They weren't so wrong... sure their form factors were way off but they had all the ideas down... 1. Electronic Books 2. High speed aerodynamic trains 3. Computer aided manufacturing 4. Motorized personal transport 6&7. Ok no one is letting a robot cut their hair or do makeup, but we're using robots for surgery 9. Aerodynamic motorcycles 10. Webcams 11. Where's my flying car! 12. Tanks 13. Electronic news etc. etc. If…

Ok no one is letting a robot cut their hair Oh, but how close we are! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bgRszdUdhQ

The robot surgeon is just an interface for the real surgeon, providing some smooth, precise motion and access into small places (where a human surgeon would have to cut his way through). Hair is on the outside of the body and quite accessible. There is yet no technology that can replace the human hand (yet).

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#56

Post by jodrellblank » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #40

I think that our future is actually more impressive than anything that they could have even possibly imagined then: http://thingist.com/t/pageview/1674/ What's interesting is that these illustrations are only 100 years old. The things we have right now, smart phones, robots, the internet, MP3 players, etc. seem far beyond what the futurists of the last century were imagining. Honestly, the things we have now seem bey…

MP3 players, etc. seem far beyond what the futurists of the last century were imagining.

Yes; the servant carrying a wax cylinder for the gramophone device was a huge miss.

It missed electronic amplification and loudspeakers, it missed miniaturisation of audio players, it missed room sized personal libraries of vinyl/tapes/CDs, and of course it missed digitisation of music and electronic or wireless transfer of information, and it potentially missed the ubiquity of cheap music such that he's more likely to have music playing in the background while doing something else than to sit down and listen to it as an activity in itself.

(and now that I think of it, why do they have robot builders, robot barbers, robot makeup machines, but still a servant to carry a song to him on a silver platter?)

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#57

Post by lallysingh » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

marknutter wrote: post #20

Anyone know of some modern equivalents? What do we think the year 2100 is going to look like, for instance?

It's fun to watch the evolution of Star Trek series.

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#58

Post by Zak » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:53 PM UTC

51Cards wrote: post #13

They weren't so wrong... sure their form factors were way off but they had all the ideas down... 1. Electronic Books 2. High speed aerodynamic trains 3. Computer aided manufacturing 4. Motorized personal transport 6&7. Ok no one is letting a robot cut their hair or do makeup, but we're using robots for surgery 9. Aerodynamic motorcycles 10. Webcams 11. Where's my flying car! 12. Tanks 13. Electronic news etc. etc. If…

Personalized flight on the whole was really the only big miss.

I think the main reason that isn't more mainstream is that even with small planes, we chose to emphasize safety far more than with road vehicles. I don't know why that is; I'd gladly trade some amount of safety if it meant I could afford to own and operate a plane.

A Cessna 172 is no more complicated than an economy car. It costs $275,000 due to regulation and low volume, not because it's inherently more expensive to produce than a car.

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#59

Post by treeface » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

Zak wrote: post #58

51Cards wrote: post #13

They weren't so wrong... sure their form factors were way off but they had all the ideas down... 1. Electronic Books 2. High speed aerodynamic trains 3. Computer aided manufacturing 4. Motorized personal transport 6&7. Ok no one is letting a robot cut their hair or do makeup, but we're using robots for surgery 9. Aerodynamic motorcycles 10. Webcams 11. Where's my flying car! 12. Tanks 13. Electronic news etc. etc. If…

Personalized flight on the whole was really the only big miss. I think the main reason that isn't more mainstream is that even with small planes, we chose to emphasize safety far more than with road vehicles. I don't know why that is; I'd gladly trade some amount of safety if it meant I could afford to own and operate a plane. A Cessna 172 is no more complicated than an economy car. It costs $275,000 due to regulatio…

A Cessna 172 is no more complicated than an economy car.

Not trying to sound snarky here, but have you ever piloted an airplane? The pre-takeoff checks take a little while, require a good bit of technical expertise, and are absolutely required if you want to be pretty damn sure that your airplane won't fall out of the sky. Safety is, at times, overemphasized, but then again your car won't fall from the sky when it stalls.

Re: 2000 as Seen in 1910 (23 pics)

#60

Post by klenwell » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 6:04 PM UTC

Vivtek wrote: post #54

xster wrote: post #5

the artist clearly isn't a union member, replacing all the jobs with robots

Except for videophone operator, and pill waiter, and record butler. I love the way the futuristic technology is placed into a 1910 social context!

Reminds me of a quote I saw on Twitter somewhere:

Any vision of the future involving buttons, or humans, is a vision of dystopia.