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Re: Predictions for the new century (a head start)
Posted By: gabby, on host 206.64.3.95
Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2000, at 16:02:19
In Reply To: Predictions for the new century (a head start) posted by Howard on Wednesday, November 29, 2000, at 11:23:31:

Fun to think about.

> 1.Before Nov. 2002 (Nov. 2004 at the latest)there will be a uniform electronic voting system in the United States. There will be no paper ballots or punch cards allowed.

I rather like Japan's system: voters must write the name in.

>Election reform will be one of the most popular subjects ever. The electorial college will not survive until the next presidential election.

It's survived hundreds of attempts to get rid of it. Don't hold your breath.

> 2.There will be a boom in passenger rail service in the United States. Trains will be the main mode of travel to and through National Parks.

Possible, though I'd prefer the National Parks to be, to a large extent, accessible mainly by foot, bike, and horse.

> Monorails and maglev trains will only see limited use. Trolly cars, with only minor differences from the ones that ran in the 1940, will make a comeback in a number of major cities.

Heh.

> 3.Cuba will become a democracy early in the century and will enjoy a booming economy based on sugar and tourism.

We can hope so.

> 4.Before the end of the century, English will be the primary language in developed countries. It will be somewhat different from the English spoken today and will incorperate many terms from other language.

Talking with our foreign exchange student from Japan, this seems much more likely. He says that a lot of Japanese media is already partially in English.

> 5.The lines between computers, cell phones, television, radio, telephones etc. will blur, and
> by mid-century will merge into one multi-media communications system.

Undoubtedly.

> 6. Sometime in the second or third quarter of the 21st century, people will arrive on Mars.

This is something I'd really like to see.

> 7. Giant ground-effect machines will carry passengers world-wide. They will travel across open water and possibly some land areas. They will bear little resemblence to present day hovercraft and will be many times larger.
>
> 8. High-speed subways will link major cites with their airports. Some airports will be built in areas where there are no large cities. Their primary function will be to serve as airline hubs. They will likely be connected by rail, possibly subways, to cities up to 300 miles away.
>
> 9. Many of the wonders of the 20th century will come down in the 21st century. Many dams, skyscrapers, and tall broadcasting towers may be eleminated by mid-century.

That'd be too bad. Many of them would be impressive historical relics, at the very least.

> 10.Book and chalkboard schools will no longer exist. Electronic media will be the learning tools of choice by 2010. Students may communicate with their teachers mainly by computer.

I sincerely doubt it.

> 11. There will be mind-boggling discoveries made in archeology and astromony. Underwater archeology
> will add much new information to the historical record.

I second Nyp's statement; the current trends will continue.

> Did I leave anything out? Do you have any other ideas?

According to "Millenium Prophecies," a pamphlet I found in a grocery cart, you forgot several important things.

Genetic engineering will give people vastly improved senses of smell. It will be discovered, however, that two varieties of this ability are prevalent, the "air-sniffers" and the "ground-sniffers." The former can detect odors from the air, while the latter type must hold their noses within a few inches of the source. Controversy will rage until the problems are finally worked out in favor of the air-sniffers.

A race of little people will be found underneath the islands of Japan. In a squabble over mining rights, war breaks out. The Japanese people will evacuate to other Asian countries and America.

gab"Then they start to get weird"by

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