When New York hosted The World's Fair for the second time in 1964, renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov made a couple of ...
When New York hosted The World's Fair for the second time in 1964, renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov made a couple of predictions 50 years into the future should the world survive the nuclear detente of the Cold War. He envisioned a world different from ours yet similar in some ways:
Man will be tied to gadgets
It is true that the latest electronic gadgets and appliances are convenience to modern living but it also made humans dependent on them. Everything will become automated so that future kitchens will prepare meals, heat water, toast bread, cook eggs, grill bacon and refrigerate fruits in great efficiency that we all just consume.
The rise of the smartphones
We all have smartphones now and Asimov was right that telecommunications would have advanced in 50 years so that you see and hear the person on the other side of the telephone conversation. The smartphone screen will be so versatile that not only you do call but also read documents and watch videos. The power of the satellites will be in your grasp as you can obtain directional information and even real-time weather advisories.
Advanced lighting systems
We have LEDs and other lighting technologies that will illuminate the cities where we live in a fraction of electrical consumption as compared to the incandescent light bulb. By 2014, electro-luminescent panels will be in common use. Asimov believe that ceilings and walls will glow softly, and in a variety of colors that will change at the touch of a push button.
Wireless charging techology
Our smartphones can now be charged wirelessly and soon we may get rid of the power cord. Although we still have electric cords, wireless power would be possible soon but not with long- lived batteries running on radioisotopes.
Future transportation
Although many people of his time would want flying cars in the future but the reality is different, there will increasing demand for highways in densely populated cities especially in the emerging countries in Asia and Africa. Magnetic levitation will probably revolutionized mass transportation system. Driverless cars would be possible thanks to artificial intelligence and GPS technology.
Global population increase
He said, "[T]he world population will be 6,500,000,000 and the population of the United States will be 350,000,000." Interestingly, he got it right!
We will eat more algae and other micro-organism
Not really widespread but yes we do! It is expected that conventional agriculture will keep up with great difficulty and there will be "farms" turning to the more efficient micro-organisms. Processed yeast and algae products will be available in a variety of flavors.
Passive human development
Although we are already gearing towards this, it hasn't happened yet! But Asimov is certain that we will have few routine jobs that cannot be done better by some machine or robots than by any human being. We will become largely a race of machine tenders.
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