Short clip from the March 12, 1967 episode of the CBS show "The 21st Century" Via AV Geeks: www.avgeeks.com... Read more about the episode here: blogs.smithsoni...
The best thing about this video is that Walter Cronkite had the opportunity to live long enough to witness all these advances in computers and the Internet.
Technologically, that was not bad forecasting, Walter! And we have hindsight you did not have in 1967 when you made this bold series.... However, regarding how "the man" of the 21st century will do his work while keeping watch on the wife and kids in the kitchen on a TV monitor -- oh, Walter, we need to talk!
There was an actor named Walter Pidgeon who had a similar look: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Pidgeon I don't know what it is about the name "Walter" and those mustaches.
Indeed. Today people in their homes have multiple devices for doing different things, or doing the same things in different areas. Desktops are compact in most cases, small flat monitors, microphones for talking with others through videochat or whatever. Indeed, this view of the 21st century from 1967 isnt too far off. They pretty much hit the mark.
Thanks for posting these clips, Matt. I watched this entire episode at the Museum of TV and Radio years ago and have wondered why no one had yet posted it online.
Sadly... most of us are still driving off to cubicle farms to do work all the things we could do at home, only less efficiently... But otherwise - pretty good set of predictions.
One thing I notice when watching this is that they still predicted that your news, weather, and stock updates would come once a day, like a newspaper. The pace is so very different now, as we all know. I wonder if it occurred to whoever wrote this piece that these updates could technically come constantly...
Obviously, they did not predict the advent of 24-hour news networks. That dramatically changed how most Americans got their news in the 1980s. The advent of the Internet becoming open to the public, and news content providers becoming able to provide news reports on-demand, 24-hours-per-day, seven days per week, was also a big change (although they did predict correctly that news would be conveyed instantly via satellite, with the exception of times of war (check out the Persian Gulf War for more details)).
English Tophat, you ought to realize that back in 1967, the only computers were huge mainframes, refrigerators size or larger, with less capacity than your cell phone. So what they show here was imaginative for them. Science and technology of the future is always based on what you have in front of you today
What he missed is we have less leisure time than we did then. It used to be a family of five could make it on one bread winner. Now we work half the year for the government.
Some people have three monitors though. I have two hooked up, it's so much better than just having one. And most people have multiple computers in their home.
The episode about automobiles turned out to be pretty accurate, they predicted stronger side doors for side-angle crashes, air-bags, and anti-lock braking systems. They also predicted a computerized mapping system, which now is done with GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) systems.
And there are still managers who want employees to rather apply for leave than do work from home😂. It took a virus more than technology to make work from home a reality for many people out there
And by explaining it, I mean understanding how a computer works at the lowest level and up. Going from hardware and micro-operations to microcode to machine code to software etc.
So jobs in the future would be - Reading the paper, Checking the weather, Skyping your mates and Checking your home webcams to see if the cat's had a poo?
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And now after a half century after this video, with all in handy to make it real, we still see big ans small company stepping back to office manu times unnecessarily.
You know the difference between using a teletype machine to share a computer with all your office mates in the 60's and using a smart phone to access "your" data in the cloud? The teletype was easier to type on and read :-)
It's intended for the husband to monitor on their (house)wives to make sure their doing their housework (cooking, cleaning, child care, etc not to mention to make sure the wife doesn't have any extra affairs or having 'backdoor men') and if not domestic violence ensues and them getting monitored keeps them obedient and live in total fear. It confirms that it's basically nothing more than slavery.
His prediction on "you may not have to go to work and have the work come to you" is very accurate and chilling.
more like "you will have to go to work and the work will follow you home“
*Especially AFTER 2019*
or "You may not have to go to work.." period because corporations have been laying off workers all year round in 2023.
Adorable that they conceptualised a screen with news on it and STILL insisted that it needs to be printed.
The best thing about this video is that Walter Cronkite had the opportunity to live long enough to witness all these advances in computers and the Internet.
It may not be perfect, but it’s remarkable how much they did get right in concept.
news, weather, and stocks with no annoying ads! Amazing!
fairly close but what they underestimated was that all of these functions could fit on a single all-purpose computer console, not multiple
Although I know a lot of people who use multiple monitors for work.
I have three monitors on one device and a total of four devices. Interesting how WFH is directly referenced.
And nowadays on mobiles. I wonder what will be there in 50 yrs.
Technologically, that was not bad forecasting, Walter! And we have hindsight you did not have in 1967 when you made this bold series.... However, regarding how "the man" of the 21st century will do his work while keeping watch on the wife and kids in the kitchen on a TV monitor -- oh, Walter, we need to talk!
Times where better when "the man" watched over the wife and kids in the kitchen.
@@hdaviator9181 Funny how working from home can allow more of that.
the future is going to be great. let me know when we get there
Hey, you wanna talk now?
Were you saying? 😅
Honey, you've got a big storm coming
The future is now and it's looking bleak
We have those computers and automobiles. Yet we also have autocracy
Watching this, and reading the comments, makes me both appreciative of the advances and aware of how they've become such mundane aspects of our lives.
Coming 2001, turnable buttons.....
Wonder what he thought in 2001
Turn up the weather button! Love Cronkite, so glad he lived a long life and saw the ultimate uses of computers.
Damn, he pretty much nailed everything! Of course our computers don't look fugly like those do.
He probably looked back in 2001 and realized he was right.
Now, we have the power to do all of that in the palm of our hands. Gotta love it.
What I remember most about this show was the magnificent closing title music.
Thanks for posting this. It is very interesting to see the visions of the future from the past.
This guy is straight up Walt Disney.
There was an actor named Walter Pidgeon who had a similar look:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Pidgeon
I don't know what it is about the name "Walter" and those mustaches.
@@michaeliacangelo9423Franco looked like Disney
Indeed. Today people in their homes have multiple devices for doing different things, or doing the same things in different areas. Desktops are compact in most cases, small flat monitors, microphones for talking with others through videochat or whatever. Indeed, this view of the 21st century from 1967 isnt too far off. They pretty much hit the mark.
Thanks for posting these clips, Matt. I watched this entire episode at the Museum of TV and Radio years ago and have wondered why no one had yet posted it online.
Sadly... most of us are still driving off to cubicle farms to do work all the things we could do at home, only less efficiently...
But otherwise - pretty good set of predictions.
One thing I notice when watching this is that they still predicted that your news, weather, and stock updates would come once a day, like a newspaper. The pace is so very different now, as we all know. I wonder if it occurred to whoever wrote this piece that these updates could technically come constantly...
Obviously, they did not predict the advent of 24-hour news networks. That dramatically changed how most Americans got their news in the 1980s. The advent of the Internet becoming open to the public, and news content providers becoming able to provide news reports on-demand, 24-hours-per-day, seven days per week, was also a big change (although they did predict correctly that news would be conveyed instantly via satellite, with the exception of times of war (check out the Persian Gulf War for more details)).
Actually, that was a pretty damn good prediction.
English Tophat, you ought to realize that back in 1967, the only computers were huge mainframes, refrigerators size or larger, with less capacity than your cell phone. So what they show here was imaginative for them. Science and technology of the future is always based on what you have in front of you today
I like how in 2001 we didn't have quite all of this but but wait ten years we had it all on our phones
Love it . So retro!
Worked On Giant Main Frames Back in 1967. The Main Frames Are Mostly Gone Now. Networks; Internet, and Smart Phones is where we are at.
For a moment there I expected the "Please Wait" television slide from Fallout 4! :)
Imagine, a separate monitor for all the tabs you currently have open. XD
All brilliant ideas and we see it all just compacted.
And if you turn this knob, you are looking live at the year 2021 … you are looking at someone in the future watching you turning the knob in 1967.
All plus everything used to broadcast this original video in your pocket.
One thing inaccurate about his view is that those monitors were still CRT monitors in 2001 and flat screen LCD monitors emerged around 2003.
Well, maybe not 2001 but 2020 for sure, Walter.
What he missed is we have less leisure time than we did then. It used to be a family of five could make it on one bread winner. Now we work half the year for the government.
and now all the stuff fits in your pocket and we mainly use it to watch videos of people watching videos of people playing video games.
Maybe you do. I don’t watch that garbage
Everything he said in this video came true... YES!!!
Incredible how far we've come.
I love how they still use 60's design for "future" stuff. Also - why not just ONE monitor for all of this?
Failed to predict that 70% of the content streamed/displayed through these innovations would be explicit/NSFW.
l love how this one is way behind what we have, but the kitchen one is way beyond what we have, where the f is my futuristic kitchen.
This machine does a big job and only 1 thing, so naturally, its the size of an oven and goes in your office.
Just watched this video on a 4 inch handheld that can do all of the tasks and more in a fraction of the time. The universe is awesome
Some people have three monitors though. I have two hooked up, it's so much better than just having one. And most people have multiple computers in their home.
The weird thing about this is that Walter Cronkite did live to see 2001.
We are still falling short of most of the stuff he predicted in the rest of his videos!
The episode about automobiles turned out to be pretty accurate, they predicted stronger side doors for side-angle crashes, air-bags, and anti-lock braking systems. They also predicted a computerized mapping system, which now is done with GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) systems.
Walter Cronkite:
.
"And this console over here is where the man of the future will enjoy his PORN!"
And nowaday you can see all of this in your smartphone.
So much win.
Oh Walter, you silly man. You don't "turn" buttons. Buttons are "pressed", dials are "turned."
Some modern electric guitars have push-pull knobs.
In 1967 it was called a computerized communication console. Today we call it a smartphone.
Amazingly accurate in a lot of ways.
It was something called the "Transatlantic Accent" and was used for film and television while those forms of media were still relatively new.
It's funny because they're really not that far off when you think about it
Thanks to the computerized communications console porn also comes to us. What a glorious time to live in! ;)
We are almost there
I want a triple-monitor computerized communication console :)
Goodness knows why you would need a seperate computer for weather and news. Hindsight 20/20
They pretty much got it right, except one screen does all and the graphics are better!
Is it me or does this guy really looks like walt disney ?
Poor Walt forgot to show us the monitor with CZcams on it.
Is it just me or did Walter Cronkite look a hell of a lot like Walt Disney?
Now, if I want to see the people I'm talking to...I turn a button, and there is their high school photo.....amazing
I'm so qualified for that, I can't wait for the future.
Pretty darned close, yep!
"..and over here the triple screen monitor a perfect setup for BF3 & YouPorn..."
Nailed it!!
Great stuff. I watch stocks and news everyday!
Didn't you see the security camera feed? It was aimed at the bed. They film their own in the future.
Gosh Walt, all of that is literally in my back pocket
And there are still managers who want employees to rather apply for leave than do work from home😂. It took a virus more than technology to make work from home a reality for many people out there
wow this is surprisingly accurate except that one device does everything
All I would need is a space for my cigar humidor and that would be my office.
So much done in 46 years, imagine the next 46
Its pretty cool that all of this IS possibly today. And not only that, its possible on a fucking handheld mobile PHONE!
Pepsi Next is more than I could have asked for.
He forgot to mention all the iphones from the chinese sweatshops, no doubt one of the greatest advances of the 21st century.
We may not have to go to work, the work is all gone.
And by explaining it, I mean understanding how a computer works at the lowest level and up. Going from hardware and micro-operations to microcode to machine code to software etc.
in an episode of "The 21st Century", Walter Cronkite did an episode on computers, in 1967. It is available for viewing here on CZcams.
LCD's been around longer then that
biggest consumer item to use it was laptops and nintendo hand held
2020+ work comes to us....
Only someone not alive in 1967 would not see how amazing these predictions were...
Nah, I was alive and used to watch the show. I am amazed at how they had even this much expected back in '67.
But we have paid a steep price, IMO. Less interaction, less in common, more fractured, more bullying, etc.
As often happens, the technological predictions are correct but the social predictions are way off or absent.
So jobs in the future would be - Reading the paper, Checking the weather, Skyping your mates and Checking your home webcams to see if the cat's had a poo?
And now after a half century after this video, with all in handy to make it real, we still see big ans small company stepping back to office manu times unnecessarily.
'After' We invent time travel is redundant. If we ever did invent time travel, we already have, and did, but will invent it.
Wibbly.
Ah yes. The future, where our monitors are all orange text on black backgrounds.
This reminds me of my triple screen gaming computer.
You have to use a separate machine for each window?
Spot on!
what do you mean? we've surpassed this.
I didn't know eyefinity was this old!
Cronkite probably looked back in 2001 and realized he was right
They bought em in the early 60's.. There's a detailed page on wikipedia
OMG they were so wrong. I wish I had a machine that could tell me the weather AND stocks on the same screen... they were crazy back then.
I don't understand your sarcasm...
Hari S
but I do,.. !?
so you don't have three screens on your desktop...
OMG! That's exactly my PC build from 2001! Shit could print news and other crap like that as well. Amazing!
This was ~50 years ago….imagine the next 50 or 100 years. What capabilities will we have harnessed by then?
You know the difference between using a teletype machine to share a computer with all your office mates in the 60's and using a smart phone to access "your" data in the cloud?
The teletype was easier to type on and read :-)
WOW great info. AAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++++ again great video I liked it a lot keep up the great work
Im vorhergesagten Jahr 2001 hätte die Bandbreite noch nicht ausgereicht. ISDN VideoCall kam da erst etwas später....
I wish I had a printer that worked that easily...
I don't have a computer anymore, I have a computerised communication console.
It's intended for the husband to monitor on their (house)wives to make sure their doing their housework (cooking, cleaning, child care, etc not to mention to make sure the wife doesn't have any extra affairs or having 'backdoor men') and if not domestic violence ensues and them getting monitored keeps them obedient and live in total fear. It confirms that it's basically nothing more than slavery.