The World in 2030

The World in 2030 247
Whether cell phones can display television and calls
are made via the Internet, your bathtub filled by taking
off your clothes, or your refrigerator opened by
a rumble in your stomach, these are just other ways
of doing what we do – easier, faster, further, more
and longer – and not the substance of our lives. We
go to school, get married, and have kids and send
them to school. Home, family, and work are the great
constants. 467
But even if these ‘great constants’ are still holding true by
2030 (and they won’t be a little later on in the century) it is
hard to imagine the quiddity of life in almost a quarter of a
century’s time. Futurologists often use the trick of looking
backwards to help them imagine the future and, by thinking
back to life in the early 1980s we can assess how different life
is today compared with the era of big hair, padded shoulders
and the hits of Tears For Fears, Spandau Ballet and Orchestral
Manoeuvres In The Dark.
How many emails did you send in 1982 (and what sort of
computer did you have)? What sort of mobile phone were
you using back then, and how many channels were available
on your TV set (and how large and flat was its screen – and
how many DVDs did you buy or rent)? How many airbags
were in your car, which Sat-Nav system did you use and how
often did you fill your car with unleaded petrol (or diesel)?
How many no-frills, low-cost flights did you make a
year? How many digital photographs did you take and how
much did you spend online each year? How much of your
food was certified as ‘organic’ and how many of your friends