2011 – Not Exactly Like the Jetsons Imagined

This is a monumental New Year if you think about it. We are passing the first decade of the 00’s – and entering the second decade. Before you know it, we will be looking at something ridiculous like 2020.

I remember as a kid watching cartoons and movies imagining life in this century. No, we are not quite there in using robots as an everyday item, nor do we have flying cars that fold up in our briefcases like George Jetson.

In fact, if you really think about it, life is much like the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s albeit with better technology.

That technology is the single most different thing about how our children’s generation, and their children’s generation will live, as compared to our own. As it is, electronic messaging has replaced conversation for many youth, social networking has replaced good old fashioned hanging out, and stalking the one you are crushing on is just soo much easier.

But it is not as if society is as futuristic as many of us imagined 2011 to be way back in the 1960’s. In fact, I doubt our lifestyles will change much going into the 2020’s. We won’t be vacationing on Mars just yet, nor will we make dinners with the push of one button. (OK, I will concede that many have a Weight Watchers frozen meal for dinner, prepared by simply punching a number on the microwave, but that is not what I am talking about.)

In some respects, very little has changed over the last 50 years. Where I live, in a neighborhood developed in the 1950’s, the custom homes and manicured lawns look just about the same as they did in the 1960’s, and when you see neighbors walking around with their dogs on their leashes, it would seem to some as though nothing here has really changed. Maybe the trees are more matured, and maybe there are less young children around, but society around here remained basically unchanged. The same wonderful schools are around, with pockets of shopping here and there.

So think about the present, the future, and what you imagined these years to be like when you were a kid? I would love to hear your comments! Simply click the comments link below, and write away.

And let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year 2011. Thanks for reading!

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2 comments

  • Technology has sure changed the way we communicate. I personally prefer face to face conversation rather than trying to talk to people when they are communicating with someone else on their smartphones. Its hard not to grab that phone away and say–“hey, just talk to me or i can give you a call or IM if you’d rather??” The work world has sure changed too thanks to technology. Deadlines are sooo much tighter, people expect an immediate reply from a VM or email and we’re ALWAYS on call. Its enough to help us all burn out at a faster rate. I hope our children and future generations figure out a healthy balance. Happy New Year!

  • I remember when my mother would say by the time I grew up, all telephone calls would be accompanied by photographs. I recalled her distinctly saying, “you kids will one day ask you “how you could see who you were talking to?” when it was just a voice coming through a receiver.”

    So how come I never feel like Skyping with my in-laws in Chicago when I’m not wearing make-up and I’m wearing something dowdy..aka..all the time?:)

    Especially if the computer room isn’t tidy enough for my standards..no thanks! I’d rather just hear a voice…

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