The Future?

It's almost 2010 and it seems an awful lot like 1990, doesn't it? I mean, don't you remember the awe that used to come with "The Year Two Thousand!" Remember, in the year two thousand we'll have flying cars? In the year two thousand, we'll be able to teleport. In the year two thousand, blah blah blah.

Where's my flying car? Where's my teleport booth? Sure, I have a nifty little iPhone. It's cool, I suppose. I can make phone calls...much like we've been able to do since early in the 1900s. I can take pictures...much like we've been able to do sine the 1800s, maybe earlier. I can surf the internet...like we've been able to do since the 1990s. Yeah, it's slick and it's handy, but revolutionary? Not so much.

Right now it actually feels like we're going backwards. Not only do I not own a flying car, but I'm thinking about trading in the car I do own for a Vespa or something else that doesn't take $100 to fill up. Perhaps a horse and buggy? Teleport? Not likely. In fact, it's getting much more difficult to even fly. Airlines are contracting and cutting routes everyday. I don't think I'll be catching a direct flight from Portland to Bali anytime soon, much less instantly arriving there with the push of a button.

The future might end up looking a lot like the past. What would that mean? It might mean that instead of intense globalization, we might end up focusing on being local. Crazy, isn't it? Real estate is showing a similar trend. Close-in homes in most areas (homes with short commutes to the city centers) are appreciating and selling like hot cakes, while homes falling further outside the city bounds are sitting and sitting. One study noted that a house is worth $4700 for every minute it saves in commute time. Wow.

In any case, things are changing...maybe just not the way we thought they were.