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French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

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Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#41

Post by IshKebab »

eastbound wrote: post #15
SunlitCat wrote: post #7

Which makes me wonder what people in future will think about our science fiction media.

Which science fiction media? Is there any dream that is physically possible while unrealized? - Going to other galaxies: As opposed to flying, those are physically impossible, - 2100 utopia would be about ecology and people consuming less, not more, - When I was a kid, I used to dream about flying blades (drones) or minicomputer in our hands where would could read stuff of program. Today I don’t see a single thing th…

Fusion power, flying cars (air taxis), fully reusable rockets, driverless cars, AGI, wow you really couldn't think of anything?

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#42

Post by skydhash »

eastbound wrote: post #15
SunlitCat wrote: post #7

Which makes me wonder what people in future will think about our science fiction media.

Which science fiction media? Is there any dream that is physically possible while unrealized? - Going to other galaxies: As opposed to flying, those are physically impossible, - 2100 utopia would be about ecology and people consuming less, not more, - When I was a kid, I used to dream about flying blades (drones) or minicomputer in our hands where would could read stuff of program. Today I don’t see a single thing th…

> Is there any dream that is physically possible while unrealized?

The unified computing ecosystem from The Expanse.

The public transport from Westworld

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#43

Post by southernplaces7 »

eastbound wrote: post #15
SunlitCat wrote: post #7

Which makes me wonder what people in future will think about our science fiction media.

Which science fiction media? Is there any dream that is physically possible while unrealized? - Going to other galaxies: As opposed to flying, those are physically impossible, - 2100 utopia would be about ecology and people consuming less, not more, - When I was a kid, I used to dream about flying blades (drones) or minicomputer in our hands where would could read stuff of program. Today I don’t see a single thing th…

If anyone thinks anything about the future of humanity will involve us consuming less instead of more, they're forgetting the entire history of most human endeavors and tendencies up to the present day, completely. We may find cleaner, better, less invasive ways of consuming and creating things from what we consume (I would hope), but I would bet any amount of money that across all metrics of practical use, humans will consume more food, energy, needed materials and so forth by far in 2100 than they do today, unless some truly enormous catastrophe sets our civilization back or causes depopulation.

I can see us consuming less of any given resource we heavily use now, but only because we no longer need it due to some new innovation, and for no other reason.

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#44

Post by 4hg4ufxhy »

bboygravity wrote: post #35
GuB-42 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't realize that the underwater thing was so important back then. We are all thinking about flying cars, and these drawings don't disappoint, but there is as much happening underwater as it is happening in the sky. Now, we are still fascinated with flying, machines, etc... but going underwater is boring by comparison. We have submarines, mostly for the military, a bit of scientific exploration, etc... but beside…

This seems super logical to me though: it's just way cheaper and simpler to build into the sky: few to no issues with air pressure. Fewer issues with sun-light. No issue with the build-surface moving (except for during earthquakes). Compared to building underwater: massive costly issues to overcome due to water pressure (when going deep), issues with lack of light. When building at the surface: waves, wind, lack of s…

Maybe thats exactly why they thought we would solve it in the future.

Space was more of an unknown unkown.

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#45

Post by geor9e »

bombcar wrote: post #37
geor9e wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite one is "Chemical dinner". Literally just people eating dinner. The idea of chemicals in their food was science fiction to them. https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/collections/a-19t...

Chemical may be also translated something like medicinal - note the butler has tiny pills on his plate; it’s the “meal in a pill” that comes up now and then (famously in Willy Wonka).

That makes much more sense. Now I see that it's a plate of pills, with a woman's hair behind it. I thought it was a cupcake.

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#46

Post by redbell »

In the midst of rapid technological progress, encompassing breakthroughs in AI, chips/semiconductors, alongside the unsettling surge in global geopolitical tensions and the transformative impact of certain social media, particularly affecting Gen Z & Alpha, I find myself constantly pondering the trajectory of our future. The relentless pace of change prompts me to question what life may entail in the next 10, 40 years, or even beyond 2010.

Personally, I am inclined to think that as time unfolds, the complexities of forecasting the distant future intensify. Just a month ago, the notion of individuals donning AR/VR headsets while walking down the streets seemed far-fetched. However, with the release of the Vision Pro and folks using it in public places as it was a phone, I realized I would not be able to predict much in the coming future and just live the moment and hoping the best for humanity.

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#47

Post by Sebb767 »

simonsarris wrote: post #9

One of the interesting things about these photos is that, aside from all the under-water ones, many of the contraptions exist. We just call them Roomba, Kubota tractor, Audible, Philips All-In-One Trimmer, etc. One consistent facet is that many of our modern technologies are a lot more complex on the inside, but simpler in appearance. There really is one guy pushing buttons to harvest thousands of acres. There's a co…

> Another observation is that we've abstracted away the robot-ish nature of a lot of these machines.

In some ways, this is also limited by the format. It would have been easy for people back then to illustrate a Roomba or a modern sound setup (instead of the old-school speakers), but it would have been a pretty boring picture and confusing to people at the time, without additional explanation at least. The way these scenes are drawn, it's immediately obvious what has changed.

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#48

Post by eastbound »

samatman wrote: post #29
eastbound wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. In 1899, they hadn’t even invented the lift , necessary for skyscrapers. Imagine showing them, not Dubai, but a mundane success story like Bangkok. Edit: The Eiffel Towers had some, earlier than that. See comments ;) Sorry.

In 1899, the Eiffel Tower was 10 years old. Not only did it have lifts, it famously, notoriously had lifts. French futurist artists could hardly be more aware of the concept.

Ok I thought they were created around 1920 when skyscrapers started in NYC. Maybe that is wrong too. My apologies.

Re: French artists in 1899 envisioned what life would look like in the year 2000

#49

Post by Gibbon1 »

samatman wrote: post #29
eastbound wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. In 1899, they hadn’t even invented the lift , necessary for skyscrapers. Imagine showing them, not Dubai, but a mundane success story like Bangkok. Edit: The Eiffel Towers had some, earlier than that. See comments ;) Sorry.

In 1899, the Eiffel Tower was 10 years old. Not only did it have lifts, it famously, notoriously had lifts. French futurist artists could hardly be more aware of the concept.

I remember reading about an early hotel or some such. Passenger elevators weren't a thing but they knew they were coming so they designed in round elevator shafts. Which later they needed to make a custom elevator for. Because round.

Google comes through for once.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/04/the-elevator-shaft-tha...

tl;dr: Cooper Union's Foundation Building built 1853. Otis demonstrated his invention at the Crystal Palace in 1854, first installed Haughwout Building in 1857

Also freight elevators existed for a long time before but were unsafe for passengers.

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