It's 2010 - where's my jetpack and my apartment on the moon?

[You-Gi-Owe]

Given that it is now the 31st of December, 2009, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss popular predictions of the future that were supposed to have come true, but didn't. For example, anyone remember the "paperless office?" How about the Y2K Bug, or worldwide socialism? Discuss.

Red Foreman (from That 70s Show), "Where's my flying car? They promised us flying cars."

[Flibbleites]

Ah, the glory days of Prodigy and AOL 3.5" disks in the mail.

I remember those days, you never needed to buy a floppy disk, just format an old AOL disk.

[UNIverseVERSE]

-See the middle-classes begin to employ robotic servants.

Roomba.

[Nulono]

...where's my ... orbital solar power?

China's working on it, and they're beaming it down wirelessly.

[Drachmar]

Y2K bug a myth, a paperless office hmmm too ambitious. Worldwide socialism? what are you some kind of tree-hugger?

Y2K wasn't a myth. the reason why it never happened is because people DID something about it.

It was a myth. Most peoples did nothing about it, and nothing happened, except that a few 106 year olds got letters (adressed to parents) why they had not attended school...

I beg to differ. Corporations spent millions upgrading computer software so systems would remain running after the clock rolled over from 1999-2000. My manager was tasked to be at work in case our software upgrades didn't work. So JuNii is absolutely correct in his assessment.

However, there were a lot of tin-foiled hats passed around the last few months of 1999.

[Vetalia]

The problem is people forget all the dystopias that were supposed to happen by 2010...

[SD_Film Artists]

Well, it's only 20 years till we have sentient AI, scorpion-shaped tanks and computer-assisted brains, but not before we have nuclear WWIII and a non-nuclear WWIV. I don't get my information from certain anime series' at all.

[Buffett and Colbert]

I'm greatly disappointed that I cannot floss my teeth with glow in the dark thread that plays music with every stroke.

Sigged...

The things my mind produces when I'm out of sorts...

Your unconscious mind is gold. my friend.

...which explains why people keep sticking shovels in your head.

I just saw this in a sig.

[Muravyets]

I remember the "paperless society" computers were supposed to create. Now instead of writing it by hand once we print it 5 times...

This is a constant source of irritation to me.

Ditto. I get hit several times a week by how much paper gets wasted in the digital age.

[The Plutonian Empire]

I remember the "paperless society" computers were supposed to create. Now instead of writing it by hand once we print it 5 times...

This is a constant source of irritation to me.

Ditto. I get hit several times a week by how much paper gets wasted in the digital age.

I think the reason for part of this is technophobia.

[Muravyets]

I remember the "paperless society" computers were supposed to create. Now instead of writing it by hand once we print it 5 times...

This is a constant source of irritation to me.

Ditto. I get hit several times a week by how much paper gets wasted in the digital age.

I think the reason for part of this is technophobia.

Actually, as a long-time office worker, I think it has more to do with thoughtophobia, fear of thinking. Back in the days of typewriters, it took a long time and was a big pain in the ass to make up a complete document and then make multiple copies of it. So people made damn sure they got it right before they sent it to the typist. They thought about it, talked it over, planned it, drafted it, had everybody review and comment on it, and THEN printed it up. Once. For signatures.

Now, they just dash off whatever bullshit dribbles out of their heads, fully format it, print out copies for all recipients, maybe even bind it, and only THEN proofread it. And when they find ONE error, they do it all over again. And then they find error number two. Rinse, repeat for the rest of the secretary's week.

As we say in the office worker racket: There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over.