I would say "We're getting there".  We're not quite in sci fi land, but it's not far off.

Not really.

I don't think sci-fi land will ever quite exist. People's perceptions about the future, such as in sci fi, are almost never correct-there will be a future, but it won't be what we think it will.

We may have hand-held movie devices, but we're not traveling to space or buying flying cars any time soon, and I really doubt robot technology will ever take off. We ain't getting no robot maids. I also think, due to constant cultural backlash, doing things in a community will become popular by the 2020s because our culture is increasingly isolating. Some pop psychologist will write a book about it, and it will become immensely popular. America will become older looking, and as our population stops growing so quickly and as we may pass stricter immigration laws, we'll turn into an old, stable country with stable ethnic groups and such, and it'll be routine to see 100-year old and 200-year old buildings everywhere, like it is in Europe, if you know what I mean. Historical sites will be everywhere.

Once cars start flying, we'll be in the future. Give it another 20-40 years.

Once cars start flying, we'll be in the future. Give it another 20-40 years.


The traffic would suck. I'm going to give that about 100 years. I want to die by 2070.

Once cars start flying, we'll be in the future. Give it another 20-40 years.


Exactly my thoughts.  The Internet isn't futuristic; it was invented in the sixties as Arpanet.

In some ways, isn't technology kind of frozen in 1969?  I mean, we're planning to go back to the moon in the 2010s.

I don't think sci-fi land will ever quite exist. People's perceptions about the future, such as in sci fi, are almost never correct-there will be a future, but it won't be what we think it will.

We may have hand-held movie devices, but we're not traveling to space or buying flying cars any time soon, and I really doubt robot technology will ever take off. We ain't getting no robot maids. I also think, due to constant cultural backlash, doing things in a community will become popular by the 2020s because our culture is increasingly isolating. Some pop psychologist will write a book about it, and it will become immensely popular. America will become older looking, and as our population stops growing so quickly and as we may pass stricter immigration laws, we'll turn into an old, stable country with stable ethnic groups and such, and it'll be routine to see 100-year old and 200-year old buildings everywhere, like it is in Europe, if you know what I mean. Historical sites will be everywhere.


Yeah. I hate to sound unoptemistic or to dash anyone else's dreams, but I don't think we'll ever get to sci fi land or flying cars. Just for the latter, think about how many laws would have to be put in place regarding safety, or regulating air car traffic with that of airplanes. Or equipping ordinary cars with everything needed. Or what to do if someone had a mechanical breakdown in midair, etc etc.

I think people have long dreamed of "sci fi" futures, because it's kinda universal and easy to imagine at any point in the 20th century. Because of how much changed between 1895 and 1915, people probably dreamed of anything being possible with cars and electricity, etc.

They didn't think of "logical, small" changes (i.e. pop cultural, or simple technology). I wonder what someone from 1969 would think of 2006 if you told them what year it was? Sure, they'd be in awe, even a little shocked at some things at first, but overall I think they'd warm up to it pretty fast. It's not like we're robots or in spaceships or anything - our day to day life hasn't changed too much. Maybe 15-20% at most.

Really, 2006 is just like 1976, 1986 and 1996 with more advanced technology. No one could've predicted Email or cellphones or MTV forty years ago, but that's all a part of typical life and culture now. Same thing will happen in 2030 or 2050. Sure, they will be advanced and probably different enough to shock us, but it'll advance in a "normal" way. ;)

P.S. As much as I love BTTF 2, I always knew their (albeit fictionalized in a humorous sense) vision of 2015 was ridiculous. That's like freakin' 2100 of the real world probably!

Isn't it scary that we're more than twice as close to 2015 as we are to 1985 though?  :(

^^I agree.

Don't you think the 20th Century will prove to be a lot more like the 21st than the 19th?  I mean, computers are a big change, but the general quality of life in 2006 is roughly equal to that of 1976.  Whereas a 1926er probably lived way better than an 1896er.

^^  I'm not scared of being nine years away from 2015 (that's kind of cool in its own way) -- I'm scared of being 21 years ahead of 1985!! I still think of the '70s as "twenty years ago" and "retro, but not oldies".

^^  I'm not scared of being nine years away from 2015 (that's kind of cool in its own way) -- I'm scared of being 21 years ahead of 1985!! I still think of the '70s as "twenty years ago" and "retro, but not oldies".


I remember even back in 1999 the sixties was still kind of thought of "about twenty-five years ago".  Because then, 1969 was only 29-30 years ago. 

Today, a "quarter century ago" means circa 1980!

^^I agree.

Don't you think the 20th Century will prove to be a lot more like the 21st than the 19th?  I mean, computers are a big change, but the general quality of life in 2006 is roughly equal to that of 1976.  Whereas a 1926er probably lived way better than an 1896er.


Yeah, I don't think we'll ever have a change like 1895-1920 again. There would be no way we could without actually having spaceships, flying cars, moving sidewalks, robots or colonizing the moon! We'll have to hit a brick wall in some extent. Most of the 21st century will just be a WAY technologized 1979-99 IMO.

Heck, I wonder if kids and teenagers in 1930 looked at 1900 or horse and buggy-life as being ancient! I bet they did! ;D

Honestly, I think we should work more on improving the world we're already in before trying to make it advance, ya know?

No. The present is now. The future is whats still to come. The past is whats already happened.

^We know. It's more meant as a look from the past -- i.e. would someone from 1980 or 1990 see this as "the future". And I think they'd see it as advanced, but not futuristic.

^We know. It's more meant as a look from the past -- i.e. would someone from 1980 or 1990 see this as "the future". And I think they'd see it as advanced, but not futuristic.
Yes, I know what you's were getting at.  ;D

I choose No, it's post-modern.

At least in my area, the city of Greensboro would seem futuristic to a person from 1966 who went 40 years into 2006. We have many more Interstates, a mall, sprawl, etc.

I don't even think entertainment and communication tech will change as much as people predict them to in appearance, things will probably just become more digitalized and things like digital cable will become average. We'll be worrying more about how to find better energy sources than how to get movies on demand starting in the 2010s.

The thing is that technology advance gradually so you hardly notice any changes, but I'm sure if you travelled to 2006 from the 80's, you'll notice a difference.