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See the original image at pointlessmuseum.com —

A Trip to the Future, as seen from 1979 (PICS)

pointlessmuseum.com — First published in 1979, The Usborne Book of the Future was "A trip in time to the year 2000 and beyond. See the robots, machines and cities of the future, and then travel to the stars." It's crazy to see the predictions about the future that were so off the mark...and which are eerily prescient.

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  • BenjaminsDiggs, on 08/16/2008, -4/+13This book is a huge influence for me.
    • JettaMan, on 08/16/2008, -6/+2The reason we missed so many of these innovations in the meantime is because our economy was hindered by bad economic policy and idiotic regulations. If people were free to innovate, and free to keep their wealth instead of having it squandered by the government, then we would have invested it wisely into these things. Innovation could have moved along at a much better rate in a true free market. Wealth redistribution schemes especially hurt the poor and hurt the middle class by making the poor dependent on handouts and robbing the middle class of their wealth, preventing them from moving up in the world.
      • Lutremi, on 08/17/2008, -1/+3So it's okay not to have any regulations on how businesses and corporations deal with the environment or their laborers? It's okay to just squander people who are just as competent as the next person but had bad luck or no opportunity to flourish? It's okay for trusts to control the price of everything you buy so they can rake in profit?

        True free market may seem to solve some problems but creates an entirely different set of new ones.
      • JettaMan, on 08/17/2008, -4/+2Lurtrmi, only in the minds of commies and other socialists. In reality, private property laws punish such abuses.
    • swizzlestick, on 08/17/2008, -0/+2I think this book was either a collection of three of their titles (Robots, Future Cities, and Star Travel) or they split the book up later. I still have the Future Cities one. Really shaped my idea of what the future would look like.

      Also: http://i38.tinypic.com/eu0ufa.jpg
  • chrgrose, on 08/16/2008, -4/+3They just had to put in the obligatory "heart with nuclear power plant".

    On the other hand, some of it has come to pass. Hubble for instance.
  • gllopc, on 08/16/2008, -10/+9Yup - Not a single mention of sexy robot women making me sammiches.

    Stupid future!
  • twodimman, on 08/16/2008, -1/+7I guess the author is a bit disappointed now. Nice find tho!
    • MacSuxWindozSux, on 08/16/2008, -0/+2"and beyond"
    • ZeeZee2k, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1I bet he never thought we would invent something so cool like the iphone...
    • naughtyboy, on 08/17/2008, -0/+3Disappointed that he didn't foresee a bunch of losers would type messages electronically via satellites and electronic circuits, underground, kilometers away from each others, just for the lulz? Don't think so.
    • ajchavar, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1...ugh
  • splash, on 08/16/2008, -1/+14It's always fun to read these books from the past, and see how far off they were. I once read the reason for all these optimistic predictions was becuase of how fast the US went from a satellite to the moon. However no one expected that the public in general would lose intrest in space and exploration so quickly. Thus the funding of space and political drive wasn;t there anymore and the technology didn't improve anywhere near as fast as these authors predicted.
    • RodgerE1, on 08/17/2008, -0/+2I don't think the accidents and Billion dollar mistakes helped either.
    • Lutremi, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1It doesn't help that anything beyond the moon is exponentially farther from the earth than the moon. A wormhole would be sweet at this point.
    • deadbeatsaint, on 08/17/2008, -0/+3It also doesnt help that we probably never even landed on the moon in the first place and most people are dis-illusioned with the idea anyhow at this point. Cell phones, PDAs, the power of the Internet and Mylie Cyrus is far more interesting, immediate, and real.
  • BrotherSole, on 08/16/2008, -2/+7I read this book when I was a kid! Brought back a ton of memories, thanks for the submission!
  • hiPpymIck, on 08/16/2008, -7/+2theyve got giant and flat screen TV video discs electronic mail and 3D copiers on p43
    http://www.pointlessmuseum.com/museum/usbornebooko ...

    wristwatch phones on the next page

  • alphabetagaga, on 08/16/2008, -2/+10I wish the 2000's were actually like this. Why the hell aren't we making colonies on the moon yet? I'm looking at you, modern scientific community.
    • kazamx, on 08/16/2008, -2/+3Its Governments you need to look to. For example if all the money that has been spent on the Iraq war had been spent on Space we could have a pretty decent moonbase being built and plans being put into action for a move to Mars.

      The amount it costs to build space colonies seem crazy to people like me and you, but when you look at the sort of money the Governments spend on stuff it really isn't 'that' much.

      If ESA, NASA, the Russians and China got together and started work with real funding you would be amazed whats possible. The reason the US made such fast progress going to the moon was the huge funding the Government gave NASA. Now imagine if the same % of Government spending was given to NASA today with the Technology we have available. Then add the money the EU could provide and Russia and China, holy cow, anything would be possible.
  • ScreenRant, on 08/16/2008, -1/+46I still want to know where the hell my flying car is.
    • jdpeek0, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5It will come. As soon as we figure out to make our cars auto drive. Do you realize how hard flying is? Holy crap! You got a million directions you can turn. With a car you only have a flat 2-d plane. So there's your answer, we were all lied to as kids.
      • KMartSheriff, on 08/17/2008, -0/+3"we were all lied to as kids."

        So nothings changed.
      • joegibes, on 08/17/2008, -0/+2Are you being sarcastic? Sure, you have 6 degrees of freedom in the air (compared to essentially 2 on the ground), BUT there's not other planes flying mere FEET from you in the air. You have a lot more leeway.

        Making autonomous cars is very difficult. I recently talked to Dan Bartz who was on the Carnegie-Mellon team in the DARPA Grand Challenge races, and it was very interesting to hear about what's coming soon in our automotive future. From what I understand, however, fully autonomous cars are still a ways off. What they're working on now is cruise control that not only controls speed and distance from cars, but uses GPS to sense terrain and grade and such to keep your ride smoother and quicker.
    • leftler, on 08/17/2008, -0/+2Would you trade your foot for a flying car?
    • Ragarnok, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1With the current price on the pump?! are you crazy?!
  • LanceMurdock, on 08/16/2008, -1/+3I loved Usborne Books as a kid. They always had the best illustrations.
  • DMClark84, on 08/16/2008, -2/+5These are the type of books I would check out of the library when I was in elementary school... in like 1992.
  • lungripper64, on 08/16/2008, -4/+2some of the ideas and concepts are looking like actual possibility's that we could use now
  • DeskFlyer, on 08/16/2008, -1/+12Site's down already. Anyone catch a mirror?
  • SouljaBoySTFU, on 08/16/2008, -9/+1Who would think there would still be racism in the year 2000.


    =(
    • CATSCEO2, on 08/16/2008, -2/+3There is still racism in 2008. Look at West Virginia.
      • Lokix, on 08/16/2008, -1/+4Why would anyone want to look at West Virginia?
  • GorfTron, on 08/16/2008, -2/+34Well MY trip to the future included crappy websites that don't load.
  • superman787, on 08/16/2008, -2/+17woo, site down, another one for Digg. *air high fives everyone*
    • tacojohn48, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1Another one bites the dust.
      • darkknightita, on 08/17/2008, -1/+2And they're using IIS, which is another thumb down.
  • jnordb, on 08/16/2008, -11/+2Old, old article. Buried.
  • Drazzim12, on 08/16/2008, -1/+12We really should have a moon base by now, there's no excuse for it.
  • gu0d, on 08/16/2008, -16/+65Mirror:
    http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:73ADGNV6V-QJ: ...
    • gu0d, on 08/16/2008, -2/+61)For added benefit type Into Google Search
      site:http://pointlessmuseum.com/museum/usbornebookofthe ...
      2)Select cached right below it
      3) increase the number 001 to 002 and so on
      4)????
      5)Profit

      Edit:
      Or if you look down a few posts you'll see this gem by shaunj66:
      http://www.goaste.cx/goaste/usbornebookofthefuture ...
      Full mirror
      • themastersb, on 08/16/2008, -1/+9That last mirror wasn't what I expected.
      • benroy, on 08/17/2008, -0/+2Try going to the main page. goatse.cx
        I promise it's not a Rickroll
      • oneoverzero, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1That's not the main page of the website that gu0d posted.

        the t and s are reversed.
    • megaton, on 08/16/2008, -5/+1javascript:for(var i = 0; i < 150; i++) { var num = Number(document.links[i].href.substr(document.links[i].href.lastIndexOf('.php') - 3, 3)); if (num < 10) num = "0" + num; document.links[i].href = 'pictures/books/usborne future/page' + num + '.jpg'; document.links[i].target = '_blank'; }
  • yourgiftsfree, on 08/16/2008, -22/+1109-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0
  • Genecalypse, on 08/16/2008, -2/+14cocaines a hell of a drug
  • solidcube, on 08/16/2008, -0/+8It's pretty far from the mark in some places, but on the other hand it's also surprisingly close in other ways.

    1979 is suddenly seeming like a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away.

    Or maybe I'm just getting old.
    • funkyloki, on 08/16/2008, -0/+329 years is a long time. Almost the same amount of time between the first two world wars.
  • BlackStrain, on 08/16/2008, -1/+95Was the server from 1979 too?
  • wontstoptalking, on 08/16/2008, -1/+2Oh god I thought I escaped the Requim for a Dream song until it started appearing in the Babylon A.D. commercials...:'-(
  • sourceholder, on 08/16/2008, -5/+17MIRROR:
    http://tinyurl.com/596yyx
    • BrandonPattyson, on 08/16/2008, -7/+5Your mirror, needs a mirror.
      • ScottMitchell, on 08/16/2008, -2/+24While your comment doesn't need a comma.
  • AgentD, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3Star Destroyers on page 95...FTW
  • JazzCatDRP, on 08/16/2008, -0/+1Looks pretty much spot on to me.

    Well, I'm off to go do some light goldmining on the moon with my trusty personal robot, of course after I take in a little lunar high-jumping at the Olympics.
  • whazdown, on 08/16/2008, -0/+2That sea city 2000 idea is really similar to the japanese concept building -

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimizu_Mega-City_Pyr ...
  • mockupscaledown, on 08/16/2008, -1/+5Great reference for graphic designers.
  • shaunj66, on 08/16/2008, -6/+54Mirror with working full size image links:

    http://www.goaste.cx/goaste/usbornebookofthefuture ...

    Ignore the first part of the URL >_>
  • drexl, on 08/16/2008, -0/+1There's one used library copy for sale on Amazon.....does want....but not spending 50 bones for a used library book.
  • DuffyDirect, on 08/16/2008, -1/+5wow mr. babyman is in heat today
  • gizzymo, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5down.... maybe the webserver is from 1979 too...
  • tehxhorace, on 08/16/2008, -0/+2anyone noticed the playstation buttons?
  • uthallan, on 08/16/2008, -0/+1Awesome.
  • PrinceMissile, on 08/16/2008, -0/+1Boy, they must be really disappointed...
  • Khast, on 08/16/2008, -0/+1Well, in 40 or 50 years from now, Digg 4.0 users will probably be laughing about our predictions for 2050....unless of course the 2012 crap happens..then we might not be here....but if we are, we'll probably be laughing at the people who said the world was going to end.

    Anyways, the old phrase, aim for the stars, hit the moon.
  • wizardcombat, on 08/16/2008, -0/+0Yithians on page 30.
  • Miamisun, on 08/16/2008, -4/+3http://www.goaste.cx/goaste/stuff/usborne%20future ...

    I need me one of them "risto"s where i can vote from my watch...come to think of it i wish we had that back in 2000. Our future certainly could have changed for the better.
    • mCanada, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3I was expecting a VERY different version of the future with that domain name.......
      • naughtyboy, on 08/17/2008, -0/+3Yup, a much darker future, indeed.
  • jlian, on 08/16/2008, -1/+1Dugg for the site's name
  • greeniemeani, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4Well, at least he correctly predicted the Honda Civic parked in the "House of the Future".
  • faptdivers, on 08/16/2008, -0/+0The robot next to the green robot woman has a cylon eye viewer , so they envisioned Cylons in the past?
    Nice find , how much we neglect our technological advancements , imagine not having the interwebs.
    • TheLoneHoot, on 08/17/2008, -0/+1The original Battlestar Galactica came out before 1979. I'm old. I watched it as a 15 year old. I've heard the new one is really good, but the original was about the worst piece of ***** on TV in the golden age of worst pieces of ***** on TV.
  • frelk, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5how does MrBabyman monetize his digg activities? if digging is not his full time job, he spends way too much time on it.
  • faptdivers, on 08/16/2008, -5/+2http://www.goaste.cx/goaste/stuff/usborne%20future ... , forgot to add the page.
    • naughtyboy, on 08/17/2008, -0/+2...and you forgot what that domain name means to most people. XD
  • jacekpoplawski, on 08/16/2008, -3/+3I was born in 1979.
  • DarkReign16, on 08/16/2008, -5/+5Interesting how much pseudo science they took seriously back then:

    FTA:

    "There are many cases in which objects...inexplicably [take] off and [smash] against walls or floors. This 'poltergeist' activity could be an example of telekinesis in action."

    Full page (fast mirror): http://fumpr.com/images/43sp6h44sys3kl0rum.png
    Psychic/ESP controlled space ships (fast mirror): http://fumpr.com/images/002jgfy1o3l0frh4oz5.png

    Then they go on to talk about how battle cruisers could be piloted by people with psychic powers, ***** stupid.
  • tunapez, on 08/16/2008, -1/+3Arthur C Clarke >>> FTW!
  • jacekpoplawski, on 08/16/2008, -1/+6Yeah, factories in orbit, energy from space.
    It's 2008 and we still busy with wars, oil, communism, religions and recession.
    And nobody really cares about space, everyone just watch television.
    • brianbb98, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4dood! new season of lost and the office start sooonN!N!!!
    • psykiv, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1
      Energy from space = Solar Energy
      ??
  • VeerTheTIGuy, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5does anyone else think the train looks like a suppository?
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