Sunday, December 11, 2011
Improved?
Noticed via one of those retro Tumblr sites: This old magazine advertisement from 1949 or so. The ad expresses optimism about future science and technology, and shows the latest and greatest forms of transportation.
How much progress have we made?
From top to bottom, the transporters are:
Airliner. Looks the same as modern airliners. If it's a military plane like B-52, many of the very same B-52s are still in use.
1947-49 Studebaker. Cars are much different in appearance, vastly improved in performance and safety.
Train. Looks the same as modern American trains; in fact many of them are still pulled by the very same diesel locomotive.
Ocean liner. Actually looks more modern than current ships to my eyes, though I'm not very familiar with ships.
Score: 1 out of 4 improved. 2 out of 4 not only unchanged but still using the exact same machines.
Why?
The center of the picture gives us a hint. It shows a man dressed in a lab coat, doing a precise engineering measurement on a bushing or bearing. The writers clearly assumed that innovation would continue to arise from applied science and engineering.
We still have engineers and technicians doing the same sort of work, but our money and focus goes elsewhere. Our innovative energy goes into new criminal financial instruments, new treasonous ways to move jobs to China, new suicidal theories about climate, new ways to stop creativity with litigation, and new ways to transmit fantastically stupefying misinformation and propagandistic "entertainment".
That's why. ¶ 5:00 AM
How much progress have we made?
From top to bottom, the transporters are:
Airliner. Looks the same as modern airliners. If it's a military plane like B-52, many of the very same B-52s are still in use.
1947-49 Studebaker. Cars are much different in appearance, vastly improved in performance and safety.
Train. Looks the same as modern American trains; in fact many of them are still pulled by the very same diesel locomotive.
Ocean liner. Actually looks more modern than current ships to my eyes, though I'm not very familiar with ships.
Score: 1 out of 4 improved. 2 out of 4 not only unchanged but still using the exact same machines.
Why?
The center of the picture gives us a hint. It shows a man dressed in a lab coat, doing a precise engineering measurement on a bushing or bearing. The writers clearly assumed that innovation would continue to arise from applied science and engineering.
We still have engineers and technicians doing the same sort of work, but our money and focus goes elsewhere. Our innovative energy goes into new criminal financial instruments, new treasonous ways to move jobs to China, new suicidal theories about climate, new ways to stop creativity with litigation, and new ways to transmit fantastically stupefying misinformation and propagandistic "entertainment".
That's why. ¶ 5:00 AM
