Radio-powered...everything?

The picture above is a vision of future life from 1922. It depicts an average day in the life of a business man 50 years into the future. The emerging technology of the 1920's was the radio and it is apparent that people believed the radio would be the answer to everything by the year of 1972. The items in the illustration are all powered by the radio and looking at how technology is now, I find it very humorous to know that this is how people many years ago envisioned what the future would be like. These days if someone suggested anything be powered by radio, it would seem pretty ridiculous. The idea of "radio controlled airplanes" and "radio power roller skates" is very laughable today but people back then were amazed at the possibility of these things. I found the "television and automatic radiophone" particularly interesting because the man in the picture is able to operate his "radio business controller" and communicate with his family at the same time. Someone mentioned in class that many of these visions of the future show convenience in every day life and I think this illustrates that idea very well. People in the past envisioned their lives being much more simple with the advancement of technology. Life today is much easier with all the resources available to us but just not in the way they imagined it.


http://www.lessons-from-history.com/Level%202/Visions%20from%20the%20Past.html

This is a link to a larger view of the picture since the larger one would not fit on the page

Disney's Carousel of Progress

Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress was introduced at the 1964 world’s fair held in New York City. The ride begins at the turn of the 20th century. The attraction features the average American family and how they lived during different time periods in history. It shows the progress of electricity and technology through several generations. Each generation considers their time period to be the most advanced and they can’t imagine it getting any better. The Carousel of Progress was considered Walt’s favorite attraction because he loved the idea of progress and how through advances in technology we could better ourselves as a society. This is an example of a utopian-like society where innovations lead to the improvement of mankind.

I AM LEGEND

The film I Am Legend, based off the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson of the same name, envisions an apocalyptic future in which humanity has caused its downfall by becoming too inquisitive and eager to use technology to solve its problems, a theme found in many novels and films which depict portentous visions of the future. In the film, scientists had been conducting research into fighting cancer with viruses. Predictably, the virus gets loose and eventually either kills or mutates the entire global population into vampire-like creatures. The once bustling streets of Manhattan are now desolate ruins, overrun by rampant flora and fauna, a solemn monument to humanity. The protagonist, Robert Neville (played by Will Smith), is a former solider from whose blood the virus was created, is the sole survivor, and the last human on earth. He divides his time between waiting hopelessly for human contact and attempting to use the same technology that created the monsters to try and develop a cure. I Am Legend  warns us that even the best laid plans can always go awry, no matter how smart we think we are, or how technologically advanced we may become in the future. We must be careful and judicious in our actions and consider all possible outcomes and ramifications. 

A NEW CRAZE--THE INTERNET!

I thought this was an interesting report due mainly to the fact that they were talking about the internet as a new, up and coming thing. They saw the internet, which was basically just a giant chat room, as a way for people to connect. People with common ground, such as football, could get together and discuss their views on the internet whereas they may not have been able to do so without their newfound online capabilities. The reporter mentions the absence of facial expression and body language making it difficult to pick up on "which way something ambiguous is meant." He would be surprised to see how much the internet has changed with the coming of blogs, youtube, facebook, and many other internet mediums with which one can express quite simply what he/she means and be understood :D (but smileys are still cool). The report, while hilarious in its own way ("there's not a lot of put downs, there's not screenfulls of  'go to hell'."), managed not to see how important the internet could become. It is now more than a way to connect with other people. It's a place to do business, a place to find information, a place to share information, and, equally important, a place to play games. The reporter saw the future of the internet as a massive expansion of what they already had. He wasn't wrong--he just failed to predict that there would be anything other than human connection on the internet. 

"Fortress L.A."

While reading the selection "Fortress L.A." from Mike Davis' City of Quartz I was stuck on the link he makes between architecture and social class. How invisible signs from the design/nature of a building ward off groups considered outcast. How over the years areas of Los Angeles that were once considered free paradises to all are being replaced by luxury hotels and mega malls making the connection between the rich and the poor, and all ethnicities inbetween harder to make.
Then I made a few links of my own, did the ideas of the future from the past that we have discussed in class, however ridiculous they may have seemed, spark from the rich trying to escape the poor through their surroundings? Did the idea of an autonomous technological future (I hope that is the right phrase to use) stem from racism and prejudice?
Towards the end of my reading I thought about cities other than L.A. and how they were affected by their own architecture. I remembered my grandmother and how she lives in condominiums across the street from Minute Maid park in Houston. I also remembered the homeless shelter about two blocks away from her and the empty lot behind her building where I always see people sitting on the curve or sleeping on the bench in the bus stop. I guess I answered my own question.