Sealab 2020 and other future disappointments

[Stevicus]

As we approach the year 2020, I'm reminded of an old cartoon I watched as a kid, Sealab 2020:

Does anyone else remember that show? I don't think it was on for very long, and it certainly didn't have the popularity of the Roadrunner.

But here it is, almost 2020, and we have no Sealab. I'm not saying that we should build one, but just noting it for the record.

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly glad the world didn't end in 1997, as The Terminator predicted. I'm also glad that Orwell's prediction of 1984 didn't turn out as bleak as expected. But we were supposed to have had a Moon base and a manned mission to Jupiter by at least 2001, according to the movie of that same name. The movie Outland had established mining colonies on Jupiter's moons by the late 1990s.

Another piece of near-future sci-fi technology was from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Ricardo Montalban's character was being interrogated by the police about the whereabouts of the talking ape, they introduced him to "the authenticator," which, according to the dialog, "makes you tell the truth." I wish we had something like that, but alas, we don't.

What are some other things we were predicted to have by now that we don't have? Have we been cheated out of a better future?

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Stupid Back to the Future! Stupid Cubs! It would have been so awesome had the movie predicted it right, but NOOOOOOO, they had to be ONE year off!

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

In some ways, in unexpected ways. I never expected 3D printers, never thought of the communication and technology we have now as a child, and science and medicine have taken fascinating leaps. But, in many ways, no. We don't have Jetsons technology, hoverboards are nothing like Back to the Future hoverboards, and the internet has brought out so much of the worst in us and dividing us instead of connecting and uniting us. And not only that, given the excitement of the Cold War ending, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union going on while I was young, I have to say, I thought the future would be more prosperous and peaceful than it is.

 

[Brickjectivity]

As we approach the year 2020, I'm reminded of an old cartoon I watched as a kid, Sealab 2020:

Does anyone else remember that show? I don't think it was on for very long, and it certainly didn't have the popularity of the Roadrunner.

But here it is, almost 2020, and we have no Sealab. I'm not saying that we should build one, but just noting it for the record.

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly glad the world didn't end in 1997, as The Terminator predicted. I'm also glad that Orwell's prediction of 1984 didn't turn out as bleak as expected. But we were supposed to have had a Moon base and a manned mission to Jupiter by at least 2001, according to the movie of that same name. The movie Outland had established mining colonies on Jupiter's moons by the late 1990s.

Another piece of near-future sci-fi technology was from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Ricardo Montalban's character was being interrogated by the police about the whereabouts of the talking ape, they introduced him to "the authenticator," which, according to the dialog, "makes you tell the truth." I wish we had something like that, but alas, we don't.

What are some other things we were predicted to have by now that we don't have? Have we been cheated out of a better future?

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

We didn't have cable TV. We had real TV, and our TV knobs really did change actual radio channels.

Some day I may get to watch Sealab. Will I be too old to enjoy it?

 

[Brickjectivity]

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

I think it has exceeded my expectations. I thought the internet would be a fad.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I laughed when I got out an old Mega Man video game and it was trying to talk Mega Man up as being a super advanced robot, and said something to the effect that he had like 64MB RAM.

 

[Stevicus]

I laughed when I got out an old Mega Man video game and it was trying to talk Mega Man up as being a super advanced robot, and said something to the effect that he had like 64MB RAM.

Back in the 70s, we got this Pong game we plugged into our TV. At the time, we thought it was just the coolest thing. How little we knew.

 

[Stevicus]

We didn't have cable TV. We had real TV, and our TV knobs really did change actual radio channels.

Some day I may get to watch Sealab. Will I be too old to enjoy it?

It depends on if you like old cartoons or not. It was more of a "serious" cartoon, but it wasn't too bad, as I recall.

 

[Stevicus]

I think it has exceeded my expectations. I thought the internet would be a fad.

It is.

Actually, I thought the internet would be a wonderful tool for communication and disseminating information, but with humans being humans, it quickly degenerated to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Another thing I didn't see coming was a world without AOL free trial discs and CDs being used as coasters.

 

[sun rise]

The population bomb has not exploded. Instead we're seeing a shift to population decline.

 

[Harel13]

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Forget that, where's my hoverboard?!

 

[ChristineM]

As we approach the year 2020, I'm reminded of an old cartoon I watched as a kid, Sealab 2020:

Does anyone else remember that show? I don't think it was on for very long, and it certainly didn't have the popularity of the Roadrunner.

But here it is, almost 2020, and we have no Sealab. I'm not saying that we should build one, but just noting it for the record.

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly glad the world didn't end in 1997, as The Terminator predicted. I'm also glad that Orwell's prediction of 1984 didn't turn out as bleak as expected. But we were supposed to have had a Moon base and a manned mission to Jupiter by at least 2001, according to the movie of that same name. The movie Outland had established mining colonies on Jupiter's moons by the late 1990s.

Another piece of near-future sci-fi technology was from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Ricardo Montalban's character was being interrogated by the police about the whereabouts of the talking ape, they introduced him to "the authenticator," which, according to the dialog, "makes you tell the truth." I wish we had something like that, but alas, we don't.

What are some other things we were predicted to have by now that we don't have? Have we been cheated out of a better future?

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

Not quite there yet but
Aquarius Reef Base - Wikipedia

Well we haven't ended poverty yet but its demise is predicted for 2030. Methinks that will be another failed prophecy

 

[LuisDantas]

Technological developments went way beyond what I personally expected. So did political degeneration, alas.

There is only so much that technology can change for the better as long as so much of it is directed to military purposes and paid for as if there was no tomorrow.

The incredibly individualistic and consumer-oriented nature of the technology market isn't helping in developing a better future either.

Other than the Internet and other communications-oriented tech, we are probably about as well off as we are ever likely to be. Until a calamitous fall creates the opportunity for starting again, that is.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

The population bomb has not exploded. Instead we're seeing a shift to population decline.

...because America is the world, right?

 

[Augustus]

I laughed when I got out an old Mega Man video game and it was trying to talk Mega Man up as being a super advanced robot, and said something to the effect that he had like 64MB RAM.

The computer that helped put a man on the moon had 2k of RAM, so 64MB could probably conquer half of the universe. Bet he even had one of those fancy dan disk drives rather than the cassettes normal people have to use

 

[ChristineM]

The population bomb has not exploded. Instead we're seeing a shift to population decline.

Its exploding

World population - right now

 

[LuisDantas]

It is maddening.

We are already at a point of no return in such serious matters as ecological viability, wealth distribution, education, jobs, and political representation... and some people still doubt both the numbers and common sense to somehow claim that demographic growth is not an issue?

I just don't know what to say.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

As we approach the year 2020, I'm reminded of an old cartoon I watched as a kid, Sealab 2020:

Does anyone else remember that show? I don't think it was on for very long, and it certainly didn't have the popularity of the Roadrunner.

But here it is, almost 2020, and we have no Sealab. I'm not saying that we should build one, but just noting it for the record.

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly glad the world didn't end in 1997, as The Terminator predicted. I'm also glad that Orwell's prediction of 1984 didn't turn out as bleak as expected. But we were supposed to have had a Moon base and a manned mission to Jupiter by at least 2001, according to the movie of that same name. The movie Outland had established mining colonies on Jupiter's moons by the late 1990s.

Another piece of near-future sci-fi technology was from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Ricardo Montalban's character was being interrogated by the police about the whereabouts of the talking ape, they introduced him to "the authenticator," which, according to the dialog, "makes you tell the truth." I wish we had something like that, but alas, we don't.

What are some other things we were predicted to have by now that we don't have? Have we been cheated out of a better future?

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

I prefer the much more accurate documentary, Sealab 2021

Sealab 2021 - Wikipedia

 

[Revoltingest]

As we approach the year 2020, I'm reminded of an old cartoon I watched as a kid, Sealab 2020:

Does anyone else remember that show? I don't think it was on for very long, and it certainly didn't have the popularity of the Roadrunner.

But here it is, almost 2020, and we have no Sealab. I'm not saying that we should build one, but just noting it for the record.

In Back to the Future, we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015, and that didn't happen either.

Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly glad the world didn't end in 1997, as The Terminator predicted. I'm also glad that Orwell's prediction of 1984 didn't turn out as bleak as expected. But we were supposed to have had a Moon base and a manned mission to Jupiter by at least 2001, according to the movie of that same name. The movie Outland had established mining colonies on Jupiter's moons by the late 1990s.

Another piece of near-future sci-fi technology was from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Ricardo Montalban's character was being interrogated by the police about the whereabouts of the talking ape, they introduced him to "the authenticator," which, according to the dialog, "makes you tell the truth." I wish we had something like that, but alas, we don't.

What are some other things we were predicted to have by now that we don't have? Have we been cheated out of a better future?

Now that we're in "the future" (from a certain perspective), did it turn out like you expected it to be?

How does it compare to Sealab 2021?

 

[Heyo]

Ahh, science fiction and futurism. Time to once again plug one of my favourite YouTube channels: Isaac Arthur
What we were promised by 60s and 70s movies and series were robots and AI, lots of robots, roughly android, very smart and socially and emotionally inept. What we have are Roombas and one-armed industrial monsters.
What we also have are Watson and Alpha GO. When I was dabbling in AI in the 80s, I didn't see those coming so soon.
But all that technology are just toys. For what I'm waiting is a new Enlightenment. A jump in human interaction, social responsibility and new political ideas (or at least the stable implementation of an old idea). There are signs. Pinker's "Enlightenment Now" and Harris' "The Moral Landscape" have been widely read for philosophy books. Basic income is seriously discussed and even tested.
The future may be better than the past - if we survive the climate change. That's a challenge nobody has warned of in the 70s cartoons.