The 8 Most Misguided Sci-Fi Versions Of 2008
President Six-Pack
The Source:
The 1955 Isaac Asimov short story Franchise.
The Prediction:
In the futuristic year of 2008, a supercomputer named Multivac will lead our proud electronic democracy by selecting the most demographically representative U.S. citizen, asking them some questions, and using the information to select the next President.Accuracy:
Not so hot.
2008 saw the election of an intelligent, well-spoken black man. For Obama to accurately represent the average of all American citizens, heâÃÂÃÂd have to gain about fifty pounds, take a few knocks to the head, and get Mexican citizenship. Add to that the fact that we stopped naming computers âÃÂÃÂ(fill in the blank)-vacâÃÂàabout the time the Beatles were roaming the earth, and youâÃÂÃÂve proven once again that Asimov was little more than a doddering, irrelevant old codger. Besides, the idea of a voting machine asking you some vague questions and then telling you whoâÃÂÃÂs President is so 2004. IâÃÂÃÂm just waiting for Diebold to stop beating around the bush and declare itself Supreme Overlord in 2012.
They’ve Taken Our Freeedooom!
The Source:
The post-apocalyptic box office bomb DoomsdayThe Prediction:
In the futuristic year of 2008, the plot of Escape From New York will have sex with the plot of Outbreak and Scotland will get quarantined from the rest of the world due to a plague (or at least, thatâÃÂÃÂs what weâÃÂÃÂll say). Then theyâÃÂÃÂll almost immediately resort to the plot of Mad Max.
Accuracy:
About as accurate as John BobbittâÃÂÃÂs urine stream after a couple of stiff drinks (too soon?). As evidenced by the tartan and cabers that litter our nationâÃÂÃÂs beaches and clog our storm drains, the filthy Scots still roam free. My guess is weâÃÂÃÂll have to wait till Connery knocks off before we can put the fences up. IâÃÂÃÂm not saying we canâÃÂÃÂt take him, IâÃÂÃÂm just saying, do we want to risk it? Meanwhile, the only deadly viral outbreaks that gained prominence this year were Bird Flu and that bee disease. And even if they both swept the globe, whatâÃÂÃÂs the real loss? Teaching our children about sex will become slightly more difficult (although you could easily use a donut and hot dog), and we wonâÃÂÃÂt get stung or shat on anymore. Although if all the bees were wiped out, it could lend some credence to the next predictionâÃÂæWith Our Powers Combined
The Source:
The forward-thinking ecological sci-fi thriller Silent Running.
The Prediction:
In the futuristic year of 2008, all plant life on Earth has died out due to our gross ecological mismanagement, and the last remaining forests are being housed in giant space domes circling the rings of Saturn. Then we decide we didnâÃÂÃÂt want them after all, and order them jettisoned from their moorings and detonated with nuclear charges (just to make sure they donâÃÂÃÂt somehow survive, return to Earth, and seek revenge, I imagine).
Accuracy:
Suicide is Painless…And Affordable!
The Source:
My lover, my mother, that glistening God we mortals know as Futurama
The Prediction:
According to some barely-glimpsed signage in FuturamaâÃÂÃÂs pilot episode, Stop NâÃÂàDrop Suicide Booths not only exist legally by 2008, they are already considered âÃÂÃÂAmericaâÃÂÃÂs Favorite.âÃÂàAccuracy:
make a booth capable of killing someone and disposing of the body, but the Stop NâÃÂàDrop level of luxuryâÃÂÃÂeyes scooped out with melon ballers, a helpful, friendly automated voice controlâÃÂÃÂare all beyond our means. Meanwhile, this countryâÃÂÃÂs medieval stance on the individual right to have a machine stab you in the gut keeps us from even making serious progress towards this lofty dream. The best weâÃÂÃÂve got at the moment is Dr. Kevorkian, the crude biological equivalent. Normally IâÃÂÃÂd suggest a mass Krevorkian cloning project at this point, but apparently thereâÃÂÃÂs something wrong with that Initiate Maximum Warp
The Source:
Larry Niven and Jerry PournelleâÃÂÃÂs novel The Mote in GodâÃÂÃÂs Eye.The Prediction:
In the futuristic year of 2008, mankind makes the single greatest scientific breakthrough in its history when it perfects faster-than-light travel, sending Einstein spinning in his grave and countless generations of spacestronauts hurtling through the black void in search of aliens to impress.
Accuracy: Pretty abysmal. The fastest a space ship has ever moved, to date, is roughly 550,000 miles an hour, which, while fast enough to ensure that any potential road kill will be thoroughly smeared across the freeway in a bloody swath miles long, is still pitiful in the face of goddamn lightThe Big Sleep
The Source:
Alan E. NourseâÃÂÃÂs 1957 novel Rocket to Limbo.
The Prediction:
Okay, so maybe mankind wonâÃÂÃÂt perfect faster than light travel by 2008. But what they will do is launch a ship into space towards the nearest star, and expect the doomed astronauts aboard to reproduce and live in their quarters for many generations while it makes its 350-year journey to Alpha Centauri. I mean, how can you go wrong with a prediction that assumes weâÃÂÃÂre cold-hearted pricks?
Accuracy:
Shmaccuracy. Yes, predicting that itâÃÂÃÂll take a 2008 spaceship 350 years to travel the 4.37 light years to Alpha Centauri is slightly less ridiculous than imagining weâÃÂÃÂll be hitting Warp 1, but it still assumes a ship capable of traveling a minimum of four million miles an hour. As I may have already mentioned, thatâÃÂÃÂs about 8 times faster than the fastest human ship, which was a probe, not a giant space hotel with room and facilities enough to keep a little mini-civilization going and (presumably) not resorting to inbreeding. Although I still think the premise that weâÃÂÃÂd be willing to doom many generations of children to a cold, sterile life in a tin can hurtling through space in exchange for the slim possibility that theyâÃÂÃÂd crash into a star is probably dead on.Here We Go Again!
The Source:
The Prediction:
In the vague recap of the series finale of DawsonâÃÂÃÂs Creek my least interesting friend gave me over drinks and me telling him to shut up, I seem to remember that star James Van Der Beek (AKA Dawson, âÃÂÃÂThe DawsâÃÂàor âÃÂÃÂDawes ButlerâÃÂÃÂ) returns to his hometown in 2008 after becoming a successful television producer and creator of the fictional series The Creek
Accuracy:
The Blue Bomber
The Source:
The original 1987 NES Mega Man
The Prediction:
In the futuristic year of 2008, battle robots with sophisticated powers like the ability to throw rocks and cut you, led by an evil scientist named after a cartoon coyote, will enslave a neon neo-Tokyo and do battle with a one handed, child-sized robot maid cum supersoldier in blue spandex who canâÃÂÃÂt duck.Accuracy:
IâÃÂÃÂve never been to Tokyo, so I canâÃÂÃÂt really speak to the accuracy of Mega ManâÃÂÃÂs endless ladder towers and fan-powered clouds swarmed by flying teeth. Judging by some of the pictures IâÃÂÃÂve seen online and my fathomless cultural ignorance, IâÃÂÃÂd believe it. But a robot that canâÃÂÃÂt duck? Are you kidding me? Even Aibos can kind of hunker down, and theyâÃÂÃÂre barely on the teetering edge of the uncanny valley. If thereâÃÂÃÂs one thing we can be sure of, itâÃÂÃÂs that the Japanese wouldnâÃÂÃÂt let a robot supersoldier step foot out the factory door without six hands, an equal number of depleted uranium-spitting miniguns, and an integrated all-region Toshiba DVD player.When not taking people too seriously, Michael is head writer for and co-founder of Those Aren't Muskets!
