Post #111300 by Tiki-bot on Mon, Aug 30, 2004 4:11 PM

Nice link, Unga. But the fact that their "predictions" came true isn't so astounding when you consider it was the very industries that built those attractions whose technologies were being promoted. They essentially used the attractions to "sell" them to the public, and they seemed to be mostly successful at it.

I don't have any problem with this except that it imposes limits on imagination. Corprations are only interested in promoting what they can sell now or the very near future, and are fairly myopic when it comes to exploring the many other opportunities that might exist for those products. I don't recall any of those exhibits saying we would use lasers to read compact disks, though the lasers' first patent was submitted in 1959.

I agree with ARJ that the future image should be of a positive one. Many people can appreciate dystopian imagery when it's used for effect in a movie or book, but would generally feel it is not appropriate for a theme park, at least not Disneyland.

It would be very difficult to come up with an entirely new futuristic archetype since product cycles are a tiny fraction of what they once were. Almost any design would tend to look dated almost instantly. I think it is possible, but it would take an awful lot of skill and careful thought. Personaly, I would find that a fascinating job, though I am not known to possess either of those traits.