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Sermon Illustrations: Future

Faulty predictions: Law will be simplified [over the next century]. Lawyers will have diminished, and their fees will have been vastly curtailed. (Journalist Junius Henri Browne 1893) By 1960, work will be limited to three hours a day. (John Langdon-Davies in A Short History of the Future 1936) Get rid of the pointed-ears guy. (NBC Executive to Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, regarding Mr. Spock, 1966) As reported in Reader's Digest, October 2004 p 143

Top 10 worst tech predictions of all time: 1. "Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput." Sir Alan Sugar, 2005. 2. "No need for a computer at home." Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, 1977. 3. "Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years." Alex Lewyt, president of Lewyt Corp vacuum company, 1955. 4. TV won't last because people will "soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night". Darryl Zanuck, 1946. 5. "There will never be a bigger plane built." Boeing engineer, 1933, after the maiden flight of a ten-seater Boeing 247. 6. "We stand on the threshold of rocket mail." US postmaster general Arthur Summerfield, 1959. 7. "Nobody would ever need more than 640 kilobytes of memory on their personal computer." Bill Gates, 1981 (supposedly). 8. "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys." Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1878. 9. "Spam will be solved." Bill Gates, 2004. 10. "X-rays will prove to be a hoax." Lord Kelvin, president of the UK's Royal Society, 1883.

1) By 2015 a third of the fighting strength of the US army will be provided by robots. 2) By 2020, cars will be fully self-driving. 3) By 2030 there will be nanobots in toothpaste that attack plaque. (Sources of first prediction: US Department of Defence, 2006; source of other two predictions: BT Technology Timeline, 2005 as quoted in Readers Digest December 2010. P 63)

Fear of the future: 21% of Australians are concerned they may lose their job over the next few months, with almost one-third seeking additional sources of income other than their primary job. Reader's Digest March 2009, p 17