The other day, I was having a long, drawn out conversation with a dear friend of mine. Said friend was mentioning her financial situation and how that she was likely to have her mortgage paid off by 2012. But she didn't say Two thousand and twelve, she said twenty twelve. For some reason, my brain immediately made made the connection between twenty twelve and the distant future and I was about to ask her how she was going to cope for so long, before it dawned on me. That's only four years away. Not too bad for a first property as the economy collapses around your ears.
Maybe because the bulk of my years happened last century, I still can't get over the idea that this is the future I spent so much time fantasising about as a small child. An odd time, was the 80s. Credit deregulation meant people could suddenly live on borrowed dime and the invention of the personal computer had set the world on track for the worst thing to ever happen to the English language. Namely the internet leaving the hands of academics and being unleashed upon the unwashed masses. The information revolution was still a while off and popular culture was still being held back by the dying tendrils of the Baby Boomers, a frightening group stuck back in a 50s mindset, without the addition of supermutants and plasma rifles to turn it into awesome. Thanks to this, I grew up with the knowledge that it had already been determined when the future would happen.
The Year Two Thousand....
You really have to stretch that out and try to say it in a spooky voice to get the full effect.
Then the information revolution hit early and hit hard. Suddenly, information from around the world was available in minutes (dial-up being the best anyone could afford at the time). IRC channels popped up everywhere. Usenet became the stuff of folklore. BBSes became forums. The internet as we know it came together and a global cultural revolution began. Except in the developing world. It was new and different and exciting. Best of all, pop-culture never saw it coming. Captain Kirk could easily radio Earth from the other side of the galaxy, but if he needed to know something in a hurry, he'd have to phone it in.
Which gets me back to the point I was originally on. The future came along and caught me unawares. Kind of like a sudden seismic shift after years of pressure, to steal a convenient and obscure phrase from a brilliant writer, my cabbage field was six feet left of where it once was. Still the same field, but it has moved on. So I grew up, finished school, started working and find myself having a conversation, 8 years after the Future was meant to begin, suddenly realising I missed it entirely.
And I still don't have my damn rabbit zapper.
Maybe because the bulk of my years happened last century, I still can't get over the idea that this is the future I spent so much time fantasising about as a small child. An odd time, was the 80s. Credit deregulation meant people could suddenly live on borrowed dime and the invention of the personal computer had set the world on track for the worst thing to ever happen to the English language. Namely the internet leaving the hands of academics and being unleashed upon the unwashed masses. The information revolution was still a while off and popular culture was still being held back by the dying tendrils of the Baby Boomers, a frightening group stuck back in a 50s mindset, without the addition of supermutants and plasma rifles to turn it into awesome. Thanks to this, I grew up with the knowledge that it had already been determined when the future would happen.
The Year Two Thousand....
You really have to stretch that out and try to say it in a spooky voice to get the full effect.
Then the information revolution hit early and hit hard. Suddenly, information from around the world was available in minutes (dial-up being the best anyone could afford at the time). IRC channels popped up everywhere. Usenet became the stuff of folklore. BBSes became forums. The internet as we know it came together and a global cultural revolution began. Except in the developing world. It was new and different and exciting. Best of all, pop-culture never saw it coming. Captain Kirk could easily radio Earth from the other side of the galaxy, but if he needed to know something in a hurry, he'd have to phone it in.
Which gets me back to the point I was originally on. The future came along and caught me unawares. Kind of like a sudden seismic shift after years of pressure, to steal a convenient and obscure phrase from a brilliant writer, my cabbage field was six feet left of where it once was. Still the same field, but it has moved on. So I grew up, finished school, started working and find myself having a conversation, 8 years after the Future was meant to begin, suddenly realising I missed it entirely.
And I still don't have my damn rabbit zapper.
