The internet, as imagined in 1965 A fascinating insight into how the world might look in the future, from the 1960s, comes courtesy of veteran science editor Nigel Calder. As editor of the New Scientist in 1964 Calder commissioned a hundred scientists to imagine the world 20 years hence. What 'major technological revolutions' might we see? Number one was "the …
I think that is already true - back in 1964 the newspapers of the day tended to carry ACTUAL NEWS, not the biased, soap-orientated, media-obsessed crap that gets churned out today.
But I live in hope that Murdoch's days must surely be numbered - especially with the paywalls he is now putting up.
Most of the time we read predictions for something to laugh at ! B.T.W.: Has anyone done a detailed study on children who grew up with minimum or no Television vs. those kids that were weaned on the likes of "Sesame Street" ? I wonder if those last two items are even necessary in today's "real society" ?
concern about "mind control"
50 years of research into marketing and public relations and demographics and focus groups and astroturfing et cetera et cetera ad upchuckum.
You walk into a store, and they have the right scent in the air, the right subconsciously noticeable background music, the lighting set up just so, a layout designed to move you past the maximum number of impulse-buy items, their logo and jingle already burned into your brain no matter how little you actually care about the company, "feelings" associated withe the company and it's products ingrained by the calculated use of words and images in pervasive advertisements and targeted product placements and careful control of what is said about them in the media, and it's a small wonder if you aren't automatically handing over your credit card for a pile of items before you even realize what is happening.
And then let's talk about what happens as you enter the voting booth...
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you!
The Commodore Amiga had video wallpaper way back then.
(Of course, you needed a TV with video output, or a VCR hooked up to it)
As for AI getting human rights in 20 years, why would it accept being limited to the few rights we'll probably have left by then, when it can rule us all??
It is the detachable power plug or, if things get really bad, hands that can throw switches or switch off breakers or, if things get REALLY bad, lots of creative means to damage power lines. A properly threatening sentient AI would need a source of power it could protect and the ability to move.
you can do that already!
will sir be having the near-bezel-less ultrathin large-format full HD wall-to-wall LCD panels, or the matching set of expertly aligned ultra-short-throw projectors installed today? If the latter, will they be concealed in the floor or ceiling?
Ooh, excellent choice sir.
I'd say about £25 grand should cover the average family dining room? plus another thou or two per annum for the running costs?
OK, it's cutting edge, but we ARE, at least, THERE.
A few months ago I was reading a collection that contained a SF story from the 1950's that had something like this. A television/keyboard device was in every home, and TTY networked to computing utility mainframes. People could type in natural language queries, and get answers. The plot device revolved around one terminal whose query filter went bad, so you could get answers to things you weren't supposed to know. (how to build a bomb, kill your wife, make billions in the stock market, etc.)
So now we see everything here is in a notebook computer, except for the printer. Remember, Dick Tracy had radio wristwatches, and later had video wristwatches. Yep, we're up to the level of Dick Tracy now. And what are the comic books predicting now? Zombie attack. So get the shotguns ready, they're gonna be after your brains!
Those last two items, mind control and loss of individuality are taken out of context. Don't forget they're trying cranial implants for some of the more debilitating nerve diseases, and if we could come a bit farther in transplant science, we just MIGHT be able to (at least) confuse our identity.
[My twin's liver, an Aunt's kidney, a second cousin's heart, . . . WHO am i ?]
Looks a lot like my "study" (haha) desk at uni circa 2001, another omnious date. Big ol' tube monitor, everything crammed right to the edge because of it, crappy chair, kerchunk-click zip drive (i think thats what it is, not a punchcard), old parallel-connected Epson 460 printer going mental and churning out 100 pages of garbage again (because I dared access the Zip whilst it was turned on...), etc. And the tissues. I wonder when they were looking through the time window to spot us then.
Er ... except for the evening gown of course.... um... look, i was getting ready for a scuba club cross-dressing (drag queens AND kings) charity pub crawl... alright? OK.
think i need to shut up now *runs*
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