“One day they’ll have secrets…one day they’ll have dreams.”
–Dr. Alfred Lanning: I, Robot (set in 2035)

Who are they?

In the mid to late 20th century, people had dreams, ideas and expectations for what they envisioned the 21st century would look like. The phrase ‘turn of the century’ this time around had sensationally high hopes and aspirations. If you recall a scene from “That 70s Show” when Red imagines his family’s future in which his daughter Laurie has married her dimwitted yet charming boyfriend of the moment Michael Kelso. It takes place far off in the year 1997. By Red’s account, all the surroundings are white and complemented with transparent black plastic tables and chairs. Everyone wears clothes with sparkles, the butlers and dogs are robots and food comes in pill shapes of varying sizes and colors.

Once he gets predictably upset at Kelso and Laurie for wanting to sponge more money off of him, he jets off on, well, literally a personal jet-pack into the sky. The setting of the room was peaceful and simplistic, which was definitely a contrast to the bright and oddly matched color splashes of the 1970s.

Perhaps one of the most famous predictions and portrayals of the future was a little movie that is prefaced with the tagline, “Roads…where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” This of course is a reference to the cult classic, “Back to the Future: Part II.” Truly one of the best B-movies of all time. In 2015 all the cars fly, the skateboards have advanced to hover-boards, a 3-D holographic Jaws leaping out at the public is in, jackets dry within ten seconds with the press of a button and Nike shoes are fully equipped with power laces. Dust busters are an antique, breaking news is published within seconds (huh, seems familiar), there are scanners galore, the Cubs are World Series champions and so on and so forth.

One scene that strikes home is when the McFly family congregates around the dinner table. Father Marty McFly sports his corresponding two ties and his kids show off their phone glasses while Marty’s mom bites open what looks like a Pizza Hut bite-sized snack wrapped in a Pop-Tart-like plastic. She slides it onto an over-sized (so we thought) circular pan and then into a Black and Decker Hydrator (patent pending). Two seconds later, a perfectly pre-sliced steaming hot pizza (1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 veggies) is immediately ready to satisfy the family’s anxious hunger. I’m assuming Pizza Hut is still “Makin’ it Great!”

In a matter of seconds, a family dinner was prepared and served. Apparently, long gone are the days of slaving over a hot stove for hours and keeping up with the necessary and stressful synchronization of ingredients to the main course and complementary side dishes. To a mother, this seems like a small slice of nirvana. However, take a closer look at that scene. Notice anything off?

In this scene, a family pizza night was homemade in literally a couple seconds. But let’s examine the mood. The mother seems annoyed and stressed out as she is gently hassled to hydrate the family’s pizza. The kids’ glasses ring and the corrupting Needles successfully interrupts and takes Marty away to the family room where he accepts a fire-worthy scam (so much for no phones at the table). Each kid appears, like any teenager really, to be annoyed by their parents and off into their own world. The point is that even with the effortless routine of preparing a family dinner by Pizza Hut, with a fully loaded fruit overhang at one’s disposal upon a simple vocal demand, more convenience did not equal more smiles or friendlier family conversation.

One of the primary goals of technology through history is to make something, whether it be traveling, building or downloading a slamming ringtone, easier. These eases on the human race should free time for us to engage more together and interact in ways that bring us more joy to the things that matter above all else in life: our personal relationships with people we care about.

It’s the summer of 2012. In most places around the country, and world for that matter, one does not have to look hard or far to find someone who is doing the ever-famous ‘smartphone look down’ pose. We all know or have seen someone who has done it, if not ourselves from time to time. Captivated by what our iPhone or Blackberry or iPad or any mobile device is able to show us, basic human interactions seem to be gradually going by the wayside. Making eye contact to a passerby is increasingly becoming a foreign concept. Far too many people are so engrossed in the technology at their fingertips that they are missing life as it passes them by, literally. Where has basic interaction gone? Is this all a geeky fad or are we at a point of no return?

Fortunately, there is one family that drew together the pieces for living life with state-of-the-art technology: The Jetsons. They perfectly demonstrated how a family of the future should live and interact with one another in a world filled with things and people whizzing by. While Orbit City in 2062 was drastically different to the world of the viewer, how they lived their lives, both personally and professionally, remained the comforting constant. Who doesn’t smile at Elroy’s childish hijinks, Judy’s high school ways, Jane’s motherly instincts or George’s comedic struggles at the office and at home? “Jetson!”

A great cartoon aside, when we see people sitting or walking today, they are ultimately isolated with their technological device. We usually see a serious, business-like stare down at their gadget’s face. It’s non-emotional…like a machine.

Who are they? That certainly is the question.