The Future of Transport: Disney's Magic Highway - 1958

[@FanaticalFuturist]

The Future of #Mobility 2030, where we are and where we're going: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6Spq4aKoJqqaposi=vxXQDV7LEynrULdg

[@atth09]

"Our rear view mirror is actually a television picture" Nailed it.

[@Darth_Chicken]

Yup - my rear view mirror is a TV screen showing the rear camera on my UK VW camper van. Future sorted!

[@JulianaBlewett]

Gratefully, they didn't nail the atomic reactor melting rock.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

Close enough I guess

[@bridgecross]

Yep, that and the automatic speed limit display on the dashboard. All the nav apps do that now.

[@killman369547]

@@JulianaBlewett Oh those exist. Nuclear tunnel boring machines are a very real thing, the military use them to build large underground bases and installations. It's a technology that hasn't quite yet filtered down to the civilian world. Give it another 20 - 30 years though.

[@DMBall]

"Radiant heat will keep the highways surfaces dry through rain, ice, and snow." They actually tried this on a patch of highway in Michigan, and found it would dry up the treasury a lot faster than the roads.

[@MattSmith-ky9do]

Throughout the whole cartoon I was thinking, "how are they going to pay for all of this?"

[@chrisdigital]

About one month of Ukraine aid should do it. 😂😢​@@MattSmith-ky9do

[@civishamburgum1234]

I think there are some roads in Iceland were they do this. geothermic energy is dirtcheap there though.

[@LoneTiger]

To quote: _"Solar FREAKIN' Roadways!"_

[@mortenfrosthansen84]

Hehehe

[@focusmicro]

Let’s just stand back and appreciate the hard work orchestras had to play in these videos back in the day

[@adammullarkey4996]

My favourite part has to be the vast, multi-lane roads with almost no vehicles on them.

[@WA1LBK]

The traffic density is about what you'd expect on a modern freeway - at 3 AM in the morning! 😅

[@killman369547]

This was in 1958. America had half of the population it does now.

[@adammullarkey4996]

@@killman369547 It was a view of the future. America has double the population it had then.

[@jamesborck5908]

That’s North Korea right now

[@Tv-gk6vk]

You have to remember everything here is drawn by hand, more vehicles mean more work to put in and the longer it takes to make the scene.

Little do they know I’m still driving a car from 1957 on worse roads then they had back then

[@electron2601]

With cars that only last a few years.

[@STho205]

Did you live back then? Did you drive back then? If not how to you come by your hypothesis?

[@riddell26]

​​​@@STho205 *NEW* > old

[@STho205]

@@riddell26 your hypothesis is a counter to the OPs but has intriguing potential. Data compared objectively and dispassionatly could likely prove that.

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

Are you living in Cuba?

[@matthewstarkie4254]

Amazing how a bit of perspective turns a vision of utopia into warning of dystopia.

[@MrChickennugget360]

this video is modernism in a nutshell.

[@ElementalAer]

The car was the future, heck many countries destroyed city centers and historical villages to expand the road system, nowdays we see how ugly it was, but it was progress at the time.

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@ElementalAer that was because of this little problem known as 'The Last Mile'. Rails (who, before the creation of the freeway system, had a literal monopoly on the majority of freight and passenger (though, it must be noted that passenger traffic outside of a very few corridors are actually profitable, for example most of the US's passenger routes were literally only in the black because of the USPS contracts) traffic) have horrid efficiencies when it comes to getting things to stores and residential areas (hence why it's called 'the last mile').

[@michaelbread5906]

The film shows that the skyscrapers were spread out, and no longer clustered like how it is today.

[@thesenamesaretaken]

​@@TheTrueAdeptcars also have a last mile problem, namely the congestion and noise they impose on local streets, road wear caused by heavy vehicles, the financial cost of maintaining roads that can bear 40 ton vehicles despite few people living there, the opportunity cost of low density neighbourhoods, the local environment discouraging people from going outside etc. Meanwhile, my experience of the last mile problem for rails is that I have to walk to and from the station, which can be pretty shitty when the footpaths are an afterthought built next to busy roads full of cars.

[@pacificostudios]

I'm chuckling because they show a multi-lane freeway with one car on it.

[@cujoedaman]

To be honest, when this was made, freeways didn't have as many cars on them like they do today.

[@Sejen77]

@@cujoedaman In England we had a similar situation happen when motorways first opened.

[@shabbysnubtide3339]

Could be North Korea.

[@HiddenWindshield]

Nah, they were just predicting the pandemic.

[@jerryriggs5922]

"plandemic"

[@michaelkarnerfors9545]

Let us see how much was achieved. 00:15 Coloured road lanes: No (some in South Korea). Dynamic road signs: yes 00:35 Road lighting: Partially, yes 00:40 Radiant heat for clear lanes: no 00:55 Onboard radar: Partially, yes. Self-driving cars, automatic emergency braking. Parking assistants. Not for vision though. 01:03 Anti-fog devices: no 01:06 Onboard traffic advisory and speed limits: yes, with services like Google Maps 01:20 _Recommended_ safe driving speed: no. _Mandatory_ safe driving speed: yes 01:23 Rear facing cameras: Partially. Parking assistant and dead angle warning. And a few models can use them as rear viewports as well. 01:30 Airborne police and ambulance: yes. Fire services: no 01:40 Quick tow services that clear up obstructions: No. Airbore ditto: heh... 01:50 All-in-one road-builder: no 02:00 Prefab bridges/overpasses: yes 02:05 Bridge layer moving on bridge as it builds it: sort of, not as shown. Tunnel boring machines can do that though 02:20 Nuclear powered rock-melting tunnel boring: no, just plain old TBMs 02:35 Cantilevered skyways: no 02:45 Centralised urban areas. yes 02:55 Longer commutes: yes, unfortunately. But also work from home 03:05 Criss-crossed by continental motorways. yes, unfortunately (again) 03:12 Spacious well-planned communities: eh... 03:15 Integrated with the highway system: double eh... 03:20 Automatic car wash at home: no. Fuelling station at home: yes, if you drive an electric 03:25 "As father chooses": oh dear, that did not age well. 03:28 Onboard navigation with map: yes. Self-drive: partially. 03:40 Family relaxing during a drive: yes. Family relaxing _together_ during a drive: noise-cancelling headphones/earbuds and smartphones/pads say "no". 03:45 Remote video calls for meetings: yes. ...while driving: yikes!! But, yes 03:55 Single family vehicle: no. Modular car: no 04:05 Special purpose roads: no 04:15 Integrated parking in office buildings and shopping centers: yes, though not quite as advanced 04:40 Rolling sidewalks for window shopping: no 04:48 In-office escalator ramps: no, the elevator and stairs still reign supreme 04:58 Technology gives more leisure time and flexible work hours: yes 05:05 Vacation decided by family vote: yes 05:08 Digital tickets for vacation: yes 05:15 Specialised pleasure vehicles with home-conveniences: yes, with motorhomes 05:25 Highway escalators: no 05:35 Multi-mode vehicles: no 05:45 Flexible freightway network: no 05:53 Centralised/remote/instant logistics control: yes 06:08 Long-haul produce/food delivery: yes, oh yes, much longer than you think 06:15 Source _and_ last-mile delivery on same hauler unit: no. The container however... 06:25 Warehouse to sales display on same fright unit: no 06:32 Roll On / Roll Off sea transport: yes. Stacked containerised sea transport: yes. But RORO _and_ stacked containerised: no 06:40 Sub-orbital space transport: no. Instantly loaded and launched space vehicles: no 06:58 Gas turbine car: Tried it, will not do it again. Tanks and ships however... 07:01 Reaction drive car: no. 07:03 Nuclear powered car: no! 07:05 Solar-powered hover-car: Okay... 07:11 ...that can climb walls: ...I think those brownies... 07:20 ...and run on an inverted roadway: ...are really starting to kick in. 07:25 Tube transport: I think we can classify this one as Extra Loony, Obviously Nutty 07:35 Airconned / heated covered highways: no, just climate control in the vehicles themselves 07:48 Ocean tunnels with ventilation: yes 07:55 Undersea highway exchanges: no. 08:05 Roadways linking nations: yes. Increase understanding between people: yes, and no. 08:15 Better quality of life and hope for the future: yes, and no.

[@kylemorice4870]

That took alot of time to do all that.

[@sturmovik1274]

Minor note for 2:35, cantilevered freeways can be and have been done, just not on a large scale. Interstate 70 is cantilevered for a good 10 miles in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado.

[@michaelkarnerfors9545]

@@sturmovik1274 I did some Google Street View along that stretch of I-70, just to check this out. Wow, what an absolutely _amazing_ scenery! Totally blown away. And... well, yes... there are indeed elevated stretches of the highway, where they have "smoothed things out" by propping up the roadway, allowing the road to pass though otherwise wildly 3D terrain. For the most part I could see east of the city of Glenwood Springs, the westbound lane sits considerably higher than the eastbound. Really far cry from the animation though. And most of it seemed like plain old bridge-like pylon construction, supported from below. No cantilevering as far as I could see.

[@sturmovik1274]

@@michaelkarnerfors9545 Agreed, it's nothing like the scale shown. However, some of the eastbound lane is cantilevered over the river. Also, yes, it is freaking gorgeous.

[@AdamTehranchiYT]

Glorious magic brownie joke! Some kind of magnetic levitation may be, but having something like that solar powered is a long way off.

[@stadoblech]

"Highway transportation decentrazise our population centers into vast urban areas" - holy! I cant believe in 1958 this was optimistic prognosis!

[@matthew-m7l1c]

He'd be disappointed to see that New York City still exists.

[@christianmoore7109]

Cities generally used to be much more polluted so getting to live away from the city, but have all the benefits of one used to be a much easier deal to accept

[@GasparCasaburiAriel]

The city they show is basically the LeCorbusier plan for Paris

[@Croz89]

Dense city centres in the early 20th century were often horrible places to live. Think crumbling overcrowded tenements, multiple families per unit, and trash and waste all over the place. To a lot of people a suburban home was a real upgrade to their previous living conditions.

[@AlexCab_49]

Yea, 50 years later, majority of Americans will live in those liminal space-like suburban areas with the same chain stores to go to and being heavily sheltered from the real world

[@doltBmB]

The mixture of stuff that is now every day, and completely insane ideas that would never work, is fascinating.

[@anthonymcrooster3703]

Oh don't worry. Give this video about 500-600 years more and people from then will spit out their version of coffee on how well people from 1958 were able to predict their everything to a certain extent. Our current main obstacle would be the energy required to generate all of this. Can't build all of that on fossil fuels alone. Best we could do right now are the GPS and the digital rearview mirror, but that's a start. We'll get there...in 500-600 years xD

[@walternelson2687]

@@anthonymcrooster3703 I dunno, the heated glowing roads don't seem very economical to me even with fusion energy.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@anthonymcrooster3703unlikely

[@thesenamesaretaken]

Technology is great but it's not magic, it can't fix the inherent problem of moving several tons of mass and cubic metres of volume per person for every single journey they make.

[@disposablehero43]

@@thesenamesaretaken sufficiently advance technology might as well be magic. there's even a quote about it somewhere.

[@numbereightyseven]

"Father to his office; mother and son to the shopping centre". Now that's a fine example of steady state equilibrium.

[@c4direct1]

Keep her ass out of the office and government

[@mikejankowski6321]

Hello, Jetsons!

[@IntegerOfDoom]

Father and son to the lithium mines and mother to onlyfans.

[@StefanoBorini]

now it's father and mother both to the office to pay for the son's useless degree college tuition.

[@monad_tcp]

No. Woman wanted to be the boss. Woman works, man stays home and play videogames with the kids. Males become NEETs. Woman mandatory enlistment.

[@JennaToal]

The rearview mirror television is probably the most accurate

[@jul1440]

Also, urban sprawl.

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

I have one in my F-150.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

They got close enough I guess

[@KingCheckOut]

Tesla cyber truck only rearview mirror is on the screen

[@jul1440]

@@KingCheckOut And that is the least of that rolling coffin's issues lol...lol!

[@venomdust1]

That was an amazing style of drawing. I wish I get posters from this to hang on my walls.

[@gokudomatic]

Ask an AI to do it.

[@georgemason4921]

Just Google screens from this title then take it from there.

[@someasiandude4797]

@gokudomatic you people are the reason image search is full of AI slop

[@defundhollyweird8675]

Walt Disney was such a dream maker while today’s Disney is a dream killer.

[@LetomDeCambrai]

This city is a nightmare 😂😂 The city is ugly Only roads The point is moving from home to work to shopping You don’t walk to enjoy the city, the landscape, the view

[@EskimoJoe492]

5:00 "Advances in technology will give us more time for leisure". Biggest lie ever told.

[@Libretad-cw4cb]

Funny you have enough leisure to watch this presentation from 50years ago

[@EdwardGaydosIII]

Wouldn't have to work if a robot did your job. You didn't age too well.

[@BaronVonMott]

Some of these ideas are reasonable, one or two are even accurate (remote-controlled delivery drones, and self-driving vehicles), but I absolutely lost it at the thought of launching trucks via rocket! 😂

[@LetsTalkAboutPrepping]

Tbh it wouldn't be a terrible way to deliver freight. Solid fuel rockets are pretty cool

[@benn454]

​@@LetsTalkAboutPreppingIt would be horrifically expensive

[@AdityaGupta-qd8iv]

That was an idea proposed by SpaceX

[@mkzhero]

​@@LetsTalkAboutPreppingnah, it's a bad idea - very expensive and inefficient, also clutters the skies and creates a ton of pollution, can't have it in most places due to that. Electric airplanes though, shot out by coil accelerated paths would be much better, or depressurized straight high speed train tunnels are much better. Tons of way simpler and cheap and efficient ways to deliver cargo (and people) really, it's just that with government monopoly on roads and city planning none of it will ever actually happen until the next collapse or at least MAJOR reform.

[@Big5ocks]

gotta remember this is before the 747 and 777 came to the world. They provide a decent balance of speed and cost for air transport... cost is not something that Disney seems to have considered for these predictions

[@TheCarDemotic]

I’m jealous of the pasts bright view of the future

[@Gigaamped]

Remember reading in books as recent as 2000 that predicted hover cars and an elevator to the moon by 2025 😂

[@pipbernadotte6707]

They were right about the cars, but couldn't anticipate the hellscapes we drive through.

[@stephenlangsl67]

"Im jealous of the pasts bright view of the future." Those are My thoughts exactly.

[@project_Streamliner909]

They thought there would be lots of flying cars and folding houses, nah we got like a million genders and weird gnomes

[@prismaticmarcus]

don't be jealous of ignorance.

[@Yonkage-ik5qb]

The empty highways and big open spaces are an artifact of the time. America in 1958 had half the population as it does now.

[@STho205]

It also had a 5th the paved highways. A 20th the number of lane miles. On vacations I remember long lines hours of wait on 2 lane highways like US90 or US1 with no completed alternatives like I 10 or I 95.

[@Onaterdem]

Only half?? Turkey had less than 1/3rd, not counting the recent 10M+ illegal immigrants lol

[@Sully9549]

This is the key point. People in those times thought having 6 -8 Kids with none of the passing away like in the past would not cause any harm. Little they knew..

[@sirhenrymorgan1187]

​​@@Sully9549And not only did all these baby boomers being born at the time this cartoon was released survive into adulthood, medical tech has increased their lifespans exponentially. They aren't in any hurry to finally die and pass the torch onto the next generation. Every generation after has achieved less and less wealth as older generations still hold onto theirs. I know that's a cruel and morbid thing to say, but am I wrong?

[@spacemanspud7073]

No this is just a cartoon. Look at footage from the 50s in like new york, they are absolutely packed

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

The main miscalculation that futurists seemed to make was that advances in technology still need to be paid for. Yes, we could have a self driving car with an automated car-washing and refuelling station in our garage, but most people would rather do it themselves and save tens of thousands of dollars. Heated roadways to melt the snow are a fun idea, but imagine the power bill!

[@travissmith2848]

Cost and what ideas the fickle public will latch on to.

[@mkzhero]

Actually Japan has a few heated roadways against frost and snow. They work a little differently though, being near hot springs, and re-directing the water into underground pipes to achieve that, so, no power bill. Also it doesn't get too cold there, so it's enough, wouldn't really work for colder places. Still, they DO exist.. Also, no, their worst assumption wasn't price, but the little research they did, the many sci Fi assumptions, and the BIGGEST one is that they forgot of government monopoly on roads and city planning, and where probably apolitical and thus unaware of inevitable government corruption, inefficiency and it always leading to stagnation and decline. Quite a few more ideas from this (the less fantastical ones at least) would actually exist now if that wasn't the case..

[@JulianaBlewett]

Solar energy only requires an initial investment and minor routine maintenance.

[@mkzhero]

@@JulianaBlewett and a further investment on storage solutions, investment in maintaining that... and a readyness to compromise on not having any electricity during the night unless you're gonna use the normal grid like everyone else.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

@@travissmith2848you mean how things cost money to do? Because you have to…eat?

[@gameboygamer6498]

Building all our cities around giant freeways has worked out amazing 🙄

[@JustJobeMY]

5:06 tells us so much on the-state-of-the-art of the time. Punch cards was the only conceivable means at the time

[@diegoferreiro9478]

At least in that aspect we are more advanced that it can be seen in the video.

[@Carewolf]

Star Trek invented more advanced interface than that. These people just weren't that bright.

[@darlenepatrick2637]

some of this is now in place albeit slightly different in practice

[@ElementofKindness]

If they had known in 1958, that highways were already at the pinnacle of development, and it would only be downhill from then.

[@internetsideshow]

Honestly, the Romans knew it 2000 years ago when they built the Apian Way

[@volatilesky]

"Advances in technology will give us more time for leisure" Yeah, that didn't age well.

[@gogokowai]

They were right, you just weren't included in "us", and neither was 99.9% of the population

[@thomaslove6494]

I mean.... I did age well... Most people work only 40 hours per week

[@JayZee-lo8qy]

People don’t have jobs, and the ones that do are wildly underpaid. Most poors have to work 3 jobs to get ahead

[@nickthompson2023]

Technology has advanced to give us more free time. The problem is corporate greed has never been checked which has required us to work more and more for the same pennies in compensation.

[@thomaslove6494]

@@nickthompson2023 people are wealthier than ever in the west... People have more free time than ever.. what are y'all even talking about 😅? Just because people make dumb financial decisions and live above their means doesn't mean we're poorer... Lol

[@aaronochoa-fernandez2726]

You could actually see this film at Disneyland while waiting in line for Autopia where the ride entrance sign is at.

[@gokudomatic]

I loled at the comment that the man has to walk from his car to his desk. Birdman attorney at law was spot on with the Jetsons who were almost incapable of walking 5 meters. And also with the punch cards being the future of informatic. But the most hilarious part is how empty they imagined the roads to be.

[@talwindersingh3721]

Loled? What does that mean?

[@gokudomatic]

@@talwindersingh3721 I hope you'll forgive my juvenile way to express my hilarity.

[@talwindersingh3721]

@@gokudomatic oh it's lol 😂 No no were good

[@orenmashko1177]

One thing is for sure, 'Shopping' is really important in the future.

[@curtismcallister9569]

it's like tech bros have been unironically reinventing trains for the last 70 years

[@crackwitz]

From an era when people could still have hopes and dreams.

[@snaplash]

The in-car recommended speed is here. Mine reads the speed limit signs and displays it on the windshield along with the car speed.

[@IAmEvilTree]

What's that? Passenger trains? Don't be daft!

[@ArsonBjork]

Past people: "Everything is going to be amazing in the future" Us now: "Everything used to suck, it sucks now and it's gonna suck later too!"

[@RobertGuidry-f3f]

It was better then, it sucks now and will suck more in the future.

[@elementneon]

@@RobertGuidry-f3f It was OK then, some things are better now and some things are worse, and it will suck more in the future.

[@RobertGuidry-f3f]

@@elementneon Best reply.

[@donovandelaney3171]

They were right on the money with some of their predictions. Bridges will be built using prefabricated 3D printed carbon fiber composites.

[@stephenlangsl67]

I think it would be around 30 years before bridges get built using prefabricated 3D carbon fiber components.

[@cbdevidaljk1]

And backup cameras

[@sturmovik1274]

​@@stephenlangsl67 You may already know this, but... non-carbon fiber prefab bridges have existed for ten years or so. Normal surface road bridges over freeways and such can be installed in only a day or two.

[@ghajik.]

Reverse camera too

[@doltBmB]

bridges are poured in place with concrete already, no need for fancy 3d printing nonsense.

[@XxSliphxX]

Its cool how they predicted some things right. Synchronized scanning map = GPS, we do have self driving cars now and video rear view mirrors as well.

[@joshuagregurich4265]

Google maps also provides instant traffic updates and shows current speed.

[@Simoxs7]

We don’t have self driving cars? As far as I know we only have level 2 assistive systems marketed as self driving. There’s still 4 to go which isn’t really as easy as it sounds.

[@XxSliphxX]

@@Simoxs7 kzbin.infogoQ2HsW1KnY?si=P-Sm_7C87Ez2GQfb

[@shuttittuppitt9355]

No FLYING cars?! The Jetsons aren't going to like that. 5:20 - A double wide TRANSPARENT motor home. 7:10 - A car slides UP a WALL! Sideways no less!

[@gobokinje9183]

The overwhelming logistics of most of these are sheer insanity, I love it hahahha

[@fatalerror8943]

If this becomes our future, getting over the fear of heights is a necessity. These highways are cool but terrifying if something goes wrong.

[@doltBmB]

a fear of heights is already a nonstarter for some of the interchanges that already exist

[@littleredpony6868]

@@doltBmBlike the stackers in phoenix?

[@spacejunk2186]

It's the future. Nothing will ever go wrong in the future.

[@rachelkoiks]

Dude I’ve always wondered where I’d be able to find those cartoons I used to love that were old on the Disney channel. It would be vintage stuff about homes and living and I thought, “But what WERE they? How am I ever going to find it?” I wasn’t into the fast action animal stuff. This gives me hope I’ll find the exact ones I’m looking for. 🤞🏼

[@miscellania4263]

You might be referencing Tex Avery’s 1940’s shorts like “House of the Future” and “T.V. of the Future” which got many predictions right 80 years on!

[@ChatSceptique]

In 4 years, this video will be 70 years old!!

[@tzon6802]

And 5 years after that it will be 75 years old!

[@JohnSmith-ef2rn]

The automatic “parking” elevator is utterly insane. The energy expenditure and the wear and tear on the mechanism for the frivolous purpose of moving a single car into one parking space, makes the idea ridiculous - especially since a car is designed to drive, and if it drives automatically, what additional benefit is gained by creating an ungainly moving platform to lift cars into a parking space, over a ramp that would allow the car to drive itself up?

[@lilpmac260]

It's impressive to think that only a partial majority of the technologies conceptualized in these dreams came true, the rear-view camera with monitor display and GPS as well as the blue-tooth connection. The fortunate (but immediately unfortunate removal) of the Gas-Turbine Car, then later coming (debatable) electric car. The convenience of the Motor-home having modern amenities such as TV, Bath, Radio, and Internet (if you purchase a Wi-Fi extension or personal hot-spot device.) Improved construction devices to aid highway and roadwork services. (disregarding the lack of constant upkeep that is often times seen in the United State.) And the rarity that is the actual elevator parking system. (they exist, but not everywhere) Despite the percentage of downsides, it all worked out in some shape or format to the ideas of the American Dreamers. (Realistically modified for the modern human being.)

[@garryferrington811]

And the wonders of the high fatality rate! Don't forget that. You can find the statistics online quite easily.

[@patrickfrost9405]

I think Electric will have its niche, but Hybrid is superior and will likely succeed it. Hybrid beats gas in terms of cost and milage. Electric fails from the fact that it takes so ling to charge and once you run out, wherever you're sitting is where you're gonna be until you get towed to a charging station.

[@MrTUBEular10]

As a kid I would love these kinds of cartoons that predicted a future full of technological advances suitable for science fiction. As an adult, I am angered at all the things that wound up not happening since these predictions started. Best we did was a rear view camera?

[@Dan0__]

We could have done better...

[@videojeff01]

I'm totally with you man

[@flyphone1072]

Good, most of these ideas are awful

[@gormauslander]

"What of we were even more grossly consumptive in every imaginable way? Imagine it, cities taking up 30x the space they do now, road infrastructure consuming orders of magnitude more power..."

[@liam3284]

Roads take up land, which spreads buildings further apart, which requires even more road, which uses more land...

[@southwestsearch]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Must have been great back then with no congestion.

[@jim2lane]

Some of these were quite prescient, like the traffic alerts and rear view cameras. But most of them we're still waiting for!

[@miniskunk]

Two things they hadn't thought out. 100% clear car roofs would turn the inside into a greenhouse and would require a lot of energy to keep cool. It would also need UV filtering to prevent sunburns. The second is they greatly underestimated the amount of computing power needed to have a safe and functional autonomous vehicle. We are close today but it is still way more fallible than an attentive human driver.

[@lubu4u312]

any glass prevents sunburns.

[@miniskunk]

@@lubu4u312 Glass by itself blocks nothing at all or it wouldn't be used in greenhouses. It must be treated to block UV and infrared to be suitable for this use.

[@lubu4u312]

@@miniskunk UVB. These rays are the main cause of sunburn. They tend to damage the skin's outer layers. These rays play a key role in the growth of skin cancer. Standard window glass, according to the International Ultraviolet Association, will allow UV-A to pass through while almost 100% of the UV-B and UV-C light is blocked. Therefore, some UV light will enter your home and potentially affect your skin. Just google this shit. II have never gotten sun burn in my office or on a long car ride. stfu.

[@Tendee]

Clear roofs can be done if they're adjustable clearness, and these systems have been included in many cars already, such as the rivian r1t and r1s tri motor trim.

[@Valhan177]

The self driving thing being part of old sci fi is likely what made the public vastly underestimate the computing complexity needed for driving. Sensors are not enough; you need a decision making system that is still well beyond current systems, let alone affordability. Watching the tesla system observe obstacles as slowly as it does, is unnervingly slower than I do than even a very tired day.

[@PyraJya-Luquay]

They weren't entirely wrong. Some of this stuff does exist now, just not in the exact way they were imagining. Cars do have backup cameras, signs have to be huge to stand out, and America IS technically crisscrossed by multi-lane highways. Sadly, we're not living in the reality where roads are instantly fixed! XD

[@killman369547]

We're almost there. Combining all the machines in road construction is more or less just an engineering challenge at this point that nobody has taken up yet. But if a team of engineers got together with enough financial backing behind them they could probably figure it out.

[@jameshancock7285]

With the price of automobiles these days, you would think we already had that technology.

[@林振华-t4v]

Some of them. Not all, we are doing better on handful. But working toward most. Cars on the other side of pacific is getting closer

[@Kinsanth_]

We could, if there were not 2 major hurdles in the way: money and greed

[@xymos7807]

​@@Kinsanth_ Or yeah know...market demand...but lets go with that.

[@Kinsanth_]

@@xymos7807 fair point x3

[@米空軍パイロット]

​@@Kinsanth_Tbh, half these proposals aren't great, and we have come up with better solutions. Many are just solutions in search of a problem.

[@Anamnesis]

Makes you wonder who they imagined was going to pay for all this stuff; most cities can't even be bothered to pour new asphalt. Don't know whether to laugh or cry about that. 🙄

[@DarkenVampirDragon-x3u]

Possibly the UAE would try something like that in Dubai

[@garryferrington811]

Your dormitory suburbs don't pay for themselves. They suck up the resources.

[@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo]

Ok I wanna keep this short so unless you wanna have a legit convo abt this, you just ganna have to deal with the bullet points. 1) It's not the cities, it's the suburbs. 2) They are further from the city center, leads to utilities and infrastructure need to go further, means more money. 3) For what they are, they are f-ing huge, leads to utilities and infrastructure needs to go further, means more money. 4) They are generally f-ing huge, leads to utilities and infrastructure needs to go further/needing more, means more money. 5) They are car dependent, leads to infrastructure being huge to compensate for the space inefficiency of the car, means more money 6) The infrastructure is huge, leads to everything being even more spaced out, leads to infrastructure, and utilities going even further means more money. 7) A lot of us are just expected to live here hands down, leads to needing more homes, leads to suburbs getting even bigger, leads to infrastructure and utilites going even further leads to more money. 8) Downtowns just can not keep up with that kind of demand, so long as everyone is living way out there, meaning they go broke and / or have to steal from other areas, leads to other areas going broke bc of the suburbs, means they can't fund their own maintenence. 9) As per usual, the "other areas" that are getting their money stolen are 1 way or another, offten communities whom's residents are largely made up of minority groups because hell be damned if a cishet white man complain about their neighborhood going to sh-, something something racist NIMBYs something something right wing politicians. And of course, because of the way society in the US is, ALL of the above compounds on everything else, only making everything worse. And that is before we get into how this affects the economy further, physical, mental, and emotional health and safety, social mobility, and about 2 or 3 more I'm too "it's 11pm and I'm f-ing tired" to remember rn.

[@LetsTalkAboutPrepping]

​@@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo half your points are repeats of past points, then when u try to get political and virtue signal, you can't even do it right and just say something something talking point something something Npc behavior

[@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo]

@LetsTalkAboutPrepping you do realize that my point with writing it that way was because A I was too tired to get into an actual convo atm, and B it was ment to showcase just how much this sh- compounds in on its self. Yea how I made the points was bad, but considering my state of being and the point I was trying to make, that was the point

[@epaminon6196]

Time-Traveler from 1958 visits 2023... TT: "Wow! The advances you future generations made in such a short time are really impressive. The first few years after the nuclear war with the Soviets must've been disastrous but your reconstruction efforts are coming along quite nicely." Americans: "There never was a nuclear war." TT: "what? How can that be?! Didn't you see those homeless people over there? And the lack of flying cars? Only a global Desaster could have stunted progress this severely since the 1950s, couldn't it?" Americans: "UMMM..."

[@princessmarlena1359]

Time Traveler: “And what is this ‘Skibidi Toilet’ I keep hearing about?”

[@alexanderholloway7110]

Nuclear war didn't happen but the horrible social upheavals of the 1960s did.

[@epaminon6196]

@@alexanderholloway7110 You're not a big fan of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, I take it?

[@alexanderholloway7110]

@@epaminon6196 There were many deteriorations in values during that time. The Civil Rights Act, in principal, is not what I'm referring to.

[@epaminon6196]

@@alexanderholloway7110 Too right. Letting certain people drink from the same water fountains as decent folk and allowing them to ride in the front of the bus was _in principle_ just as much of a deterioration in moral values as stopping to have other certain people institutionalized for getting caught being attracted towards the same gender, right? If only we could return to the morally superior before-times.

[@nocturnemusique]

I think the world would be a much better place if we actually had an optimistic view of the future today ngl

[@crackwitz]

They were naive back then.

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@crackwitz no, the Futurists back then didn't do their job. They need to see the good and the bad.

[@nitothompson97]

It's wild how this is 50% crazy futuristic fiction 50% stuff we already have.

[@lucaskp16]

there is also several things here that we totally could have but dont because they make 0 economic sense. like flying ambulances or firetrucks or heated highways or delivery by rocket. the rotating automatic parking lots exist but only a few.

[@TheTheTheTheTheThe]

@@lucaskp16I mean we have flying ambulances, but they existed even when this cartoon was made. The Royal Flying Doctor Service was founded in 1928, 30 years before this cartoon came out

[@bermlee]

South Korea has now had color-coded lanes in highways and intersections, and also heated road segments (to remove snow) for some time now.

[@omi_god]

The heated roadway thing intrigues me - what is the energy source for the heat? It must be prodigious, since it would have to offset the coldness of the snow and ice. Then there is the problem of what to do with the runoff water - where does it go, and how do they keep it from re-freezing as it is transported off of the roadway? It is certainly possible to achieve - I just wonder how they go about it. The idea of heating pavement to prevent snow accumulation isn't new - where I lived in Spokane there was a home built at the dawn of the 20th century that featured electrically-heated sidewalks around the property - the pavement was just warm enough to melt the snow as it fell. It was always a little treat to walk past the place in winter time and not worry about slipping on the ice.

[@bermlee]

@@omi_god Electric lines. I saw a hilly road in our neighborhood get retrofitted, they basically carved some really thin longitudinal trenches and dropped the wires in there. I think the idea is that the ground still retains some heat already, and you only need to kick it up above 0 C to melt the snow.

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

3:57 I bet this film was the inspiration for The Jetsons.

[@MrReubenTishkoff]

My thoughts exactly at the same timestamp! 😊

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

@@MrReubenTishkoff 😎🤘

[@Valhan177]

Alot of this obsession with highways and massive residential area sprawl is what gave us the LA problem of being totally dependant on personal veichles. It wpuld be nice if highways where that empty but it is never the case.

[@robertharris6092]

The issue is they expected people to be paid more fairly then they are.

[@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo]

​@@robertharris6092how would better pay for anyone fix traffic, or am I missing the part you were responding to

[@thecommonsenseconservative5576]

​@@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo it's just a moron account preaching unrelated garbage

[@rawkfist-ih6nk]

No, they were expecting more spread out areas. But people keep flocking to highly populated areas

[@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo]

@@rawkfist-ih6nk that is exactly it. And we knew this long before the car was a thing, let alone its mass adoption in the 50s and 60s, and decently before (to use LA as an example) we tore up the world's largest electrified tram and street car system, and bulldozed a quarter of the city to make room for the highways that run right through it

[@averyredpandy]

It's wild they thought of all this crazy stuff but the car's autopilot still needed a punch card.

[@ricardo.compere8504]

1:24 That one was pretty accurate, for most cars atleast.

[@straightpipediesel]

1:18 just became mandatory in all new EU cars

[@ricardo.compere8504]

​@@straightpipediesel The more you know.

[@JaredWestergard-lr2lr]

0:58, 1:04

[@EcstaticTemporality]

Our highways are impressive today, we have a long way to go to improve them. I smiled at the idea of air conditioned desert highways.

[@RedUmbre]

there's something morbid and psychotic about this

[@Ndw1995]

Not as morbid and psychotic as the modern walkable crime areas full of culture, emptying its bowels into the gutters

[@archimetropolis]

"You never need to move your body!"

[@scottberdahl6957]

I absolutely love retro futurism...the future looks bright 🌞

[@tengerzander7921]

These view are very optimistic about the cost of building material, higher level of autonomy and advanced of low efficiency technology. Love it. Why we are not doing it anymore, imagine the future where problem can be solved in a creative way?

[@ninochaosdrache3189]

Because reality did set in and we know that all those dreasm are just that, dreams.

[@EustaH]

Oh, simple, if you extrapolated past 50 yeast back then 50 years into the future, that was what you'd get. Those were times were multiple live transforming technologies like cars, airplanes, computers etc. emerged in quick succession relatively recently, and their development was also super fast - a 10 year old airplane, or even ship was already obsolete back then. Also most diseases of affluence and environmental damage were still to be discovered. And they believed in permanent peace thanks to atomic bomb.

[@thecactusman17]

"We'll use radar to see the outline of the car ahead" Headlight switch now flips from normal, to brights, to _extra spicy._

[@daniellapain1576]

🤣🤣🤣

[@jacksimpson3346]

I remember seeing a clip where there were two motorways for men and women but it isn't included in this video?

[@impracticalPhysics]

Hmm, I wonder why.

[@marcelthoma8890]

Sounds like a Tex Avery cartoon.

[@impracticalPhysics]

@@marcelthoma8890 It is. it's called the future of cars, If I remember correctly.

[@killman369547]

And let me guess which motorway operates with near perfect efficiency, and which one.... doesn't do that.

[@shabbysnubtide3339]

2:18 We were at one time considering using nuclear explosions to excavate mountains for road building. It was called “Project Plowshare”.

[@jhonsiders6077]

The tube thing is like the hyper loop . It’s something that people thought things would be this good it’s really went the other way for the most part .

[@claudelorey6505]

Kinda cool that they were spot on with the rear view camera and automatic speed limit display

[@dreacul]

So this is one of my conclusions after watching this. People, especially older people complain that we are too lazy, good for nothing, unable to change a bulb, weak generations etc. But then you see this clip and realize that people were dreaming of a future where they don't need to do anything. Meaning that if we would swap our places with them, they'd be as weak as we are.

[@bobnolin9155]

This could be viewed as capitalist propaganda. Keep the working class complacent with a phony vision of "someday." Of course, we'd never fall for that now, would we?

[@Tv-gk6vk]

I see a lot of comments about the large multi lane highways with only a few cars on them, y’all have to remember all this is drawn by hand, and it’s not easy drawing hundreds of cars driving on highways

[@davidhensley76]

I like the color-coded highways.

[@biggestghost1302]

The cost of repair would balloon through the stratosphere(office building with a garage elevator). They can barely fix the potholes locally no way they thought heated roads were a good idea. The one thing worked towards was the television as a rear view mirror.

[@axelwulf6220]

Disney: Informative Chuck Jones/Tex Avory: slapnuttery shenanigans

[@DoneDragon1]

The hope for and certainty of the future shown is definitely intoxicating

[@jamesatkins5676]

Autopia by Honda at Disneyland brought me here! 🚙 🚙 🚙

[@specialt3701]

Watching this sipping my coffee in a 1950s themed hotel on the beach. The only part I've witnessed to come true is the prefab bridge segments

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

Gps and rear view cameras too

[@markomib]

i think its interesting how much of this came - nearly 70 years later, but some of it you have to wonder: Microwaves beamed on the highway ....to keep fog away (I mean sure, you'll be dead, but problem solved), and how much power would it take to keep the freeways warm nationwide.

[@garryferrington811]

Who's going to pay for it? All of this costs. Our national debt keeps going up. For how long?

[@shabbysnubtide3339]

7:07 This car was featured in the movie “Minority Report”.

[@segamai]

Why is every single environment in this either a desolate wasteland or an urban crab bucket? Not a SINGLE bit of greenery anywhere in sight

[@thedarkringedfox9998]

Maybe because they thought in the future all trees were going to be destroyed

[@NickAndriadze]

A lot of these ideas are far fetched and scientifically near-impossible even by today's standards, but a lot of the more grounded (no pun intended) ideas have absolutely been nailed. Like the obvious increase in speed of highway transportation, and its sheer sprawling nature, in a way they predicted the European Auto-Bahns. Also, rear window monitors and suggested speed.

[@P7777-u7r]

Even back then Americans had no concept of lane discipline. It's a shame that Eisenhower never bothered to ask the Autobahn engineers about how to implement the features that made freeways limitless when he decided the USA should have a copy. Germany now almost has this minus the magic radar windshields and heated surface. The USA meanwhile is stuck on adding way more lanes than they need so everyone can sit side by side and all go the same speed ironically your mentality of "everyone has to go the same speed" is more suited to a rail and public transport network which you claim to hate

[@michaelsohocki1573]

rear cam, self driving cars, prefab bridges, in-flight zoom meetings...they did eerily well with a large number of these predictions.

[@spearwolf2515]

2:18 that's some pre fallout stuff

[@alanalot]

It's amazing how many things they got right and sad how many things they got wrong.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

Wasn’t aware Darth Vader was charge of the emergency services.

[@tobystamps2920]

I love watching these. So far they got a few things right but most still remains science fiction.

[@VidGamer123]

Me screaming LIGHT RAIL DAMMIT over and over at this short...

[@elliotjordan2326]

Car centric cities are terrible. This whole cartoon is propaganda.

[@williambrock3349]

Good idea. Let’s just destroy our interstate Highway system and get rid of all the freeways nationwide. Let’s force people to ride with other strangers and we can just get rid of our freedom to drive ourselves. No more scenic drives. No more freedom of choice to take whatever route you want to go. 15 minute cities nationwide. A socialist dream come true if they vote for Harris and they truly hate freedom

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@elliotjordan2326 not really. The sad thing is that rail is vastly inefficient when it comes to 'the last mile' (i.e. the final stretch between producer and consumers in the context of goods). The only reason that railways got so massive was because they were the only real game in town. A monopoly, in other words. Once that monopoly was broken, well, let's just say contraction is something of an understatement. Historically, unless the rail network is government controlled, railroads literally contract immensely if they haven't already done so and jump off the passenger rail gig (outside of a handful of corridors, passenger rail is a *_LOSS LEADER_* despite what the Railroad Supremists will tell you, hell most of the US's passenger lines only existed via USPS contracts!) completely.

[@elliotjordan2326]

@@TheTrueAdept what is your calculation for efficiency that shows issues with "the last mile". Train use 1000x times less kilojoules of energy to move the same mass compared with cars and trucks. So trains are more efficient in almost any situation.

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@elliotjordan2326 ... you are thinking too big. We're talking about stores, restaurants, and similar not warehouses.

[@michaelgodden7187]

Wow that was a cool video. Some of the stuff discussed in the video are a reality today, such as the prefab bridge sections, the bridge building machine and tunnel boring machine. The heated highway as other have said, would be impossibly expensive; however there are heated runways at certain airports.

[@jul1440]

"Transportation of the future!" Airline industry: "hold my beer!"

[@StanleyKewbeb1]

"We'll have radar to see through the fog. Or maybe fog-dispelling devices along the highway. Or windmills, or a giant vacuum cleaner, yeah, that's the ticket!"

[@19iason19]

„Oh look mum, all the nuclear powerplants just to deliver energy for the highway-heating“

[@Dan0__]

They were brainstorming the future... planting seeds! Dream a positive future and work to make it happen. Don't complain, do something about it! I grew up with this kind of thinking. I saw Disney's model of the City of Tomorrow at the 1964 World Fair in New York. It was inspiring!

[@neves5083]

Magic to those who can afford it, more like an hellscape to everyone else I wonder if our optimistic predictions of future don't include things that people in lower conditions can use because they think that economic equality will be widespread and poor people will no longer exist, or just forget about then entirely. Kinda hard to say I love the vibe that this gives me, its an documentary?

[@CommanderColson]

I believe its a video that would loop in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in the 60s

[@kid10249595]

I mean going off the growing economy mention of the video. My stance is that it was optimistic in that everyone would eventually be on an equal footing due to automation and so forth as highlighted in the video. Yet reality has shown that automation is honestly having the opposing effect. Instead of spreading wealth by creating more jobs by alleviating tasks that can be done by machines. It's instead eroding away at jobs and causing people to lose their jobs slowly but surely.

[@robertharris6092]

They expected ever increasing automation and productivity to mean people get payed more. And eventualy that everyone atleast in the first world would live like this. But they never predicted the sheer greed in the future.

[@PistonAvatarGuy]

In those days, wealth inequality had been greatly reduced via taxation.

[@AlanWilhelm-fv7to]

This is from before Reagan began the War on the Poor

[@VectorParallax]

Advanced navigation technology, where you set you destination using a punch card. I love it.

[@EmperorSigismund]

The most unrealistic part is that they aren't all fat.

[@rayrocher6887]

Thanks Disney, you were optimistic, great leader

[@Jeff-cn9up]

Even in 1958, these people were out of their minds if they thought most of this stuff was reasonable.

[@brunob4436]

"Advances in technology will give us more time for leisure" NAILED IT... Oh wait....

[@innertuber4049]

The funniest part to me, by far, was the indication that Americans will have more and more leisure time.

[@omi_god]

At the time the film was made, that was how things were trending. Workers were working fewer hours to attain the things they wanted for their lives. That trend began reversing in the 1980s, as commercial power became more and more concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and labor was seen as just one more expense to cut.

[@innertuber4049]

@@omi_god I know the history; the eighties actually saw another economic upswing, but it's true that the pro-union policies of the forties and fifties were dismantled around that time.

[@derekc180]

I love how it’s always still the 50s in the future.

[@Malefiscent]

The funny thing is many of these things are done and some can be done, just not economically viable.