It’s crazy to think both how short and infinitely long a century is. You see, Motorola’s DynaTAC, the first cell phone, was launched in 1984 for a price of $3,995. And today, nobody can imagine their life without touch-screen mobiles with integrated Leica cameras and AI face recognition systems that come at much less than Motorola’s initial price.
So imagine how differently people back then perceived the advancements in technology that looked both incredible and life-changing. And they were. But technology, and the world we live in, escalates so quickly that it surpasses our best forecasts for what the future holds.
And this time, we are talking a look at retro-futuristic examples created in the previous century that give us a glimpse into weird and wonderful dreams of the human mind.
This post may include affiliate links.#1
An Artists Depiction Of The Future, Painted In 1930
Linus Nilsson2 days ago
Spot on!151ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#2
A Fifties Navigation System. Don’t Know Who Imagined This But I Love It!
GiantNormalDwarf Report368pointsPOST
Electric Uncle Trash2 days ago
Wow, Google Maps before Google Maps.105ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#3
We Really Messed Up
The_qp_god Report333pointsPOST
RadiatorAnkleSpider2 days ago
Dude, this would be awesome.114ReplyView More Replies…View more comments
Bored Panda reached out to Lina Survila, a global tech PR and chief editor at Abstract Stylist, who shared her insights on this weird and wonderful movement “that shows how the future would look with a retro twist.”
Interestingly, the retro feel becomes visible only from today’s point of view, since anyone dreaming of the future in the past wouldn’t think of it as a retro future. According to Lina, “artists had the perfect vision, and it seems they were very close to the ideas we see today.”
Meanwhile, “Retro futurist aesthetics have touched every possible art form there is. Fashion is no exception. When we think of futurism in fashion and a bright vision of what the future might be, we think of Paco Rabanne. The Spanish fashion designer was active in the ’60s and totally disrupted the fashion scene with retrofuturistic designs and his ideas of how people would dress in the future (most likely, that future is now).”#4
1940s Vision Of Food Delivery Future
abdouhlili Report332pointsPOST
Katie Potasky2 days ago
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.View More Replies…View more comments#5
Television Newspaper – Some Day You May Be Able To Receive The Front Page Of Your Morning Newspaper This Way
Electric Uncle Trash2 days ago(edited)
Now I have the entire knowledge of the human race in a small device, and I use it to look at cat videos and BP articles.251ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#6
Self Driving Cars Of The Future, Circa 1960
Katie Potasky2 days ago
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Retro ideas of how the future would look inspired many creators, artists, and thinkers, “from architect and designer Matti Suuronen (Futuro house created in the 1970s) to writer Isaac Asimov’s book The Naked Sun.” Lina added that The Jetsons with their retrofuturistic flying cars also deserve a big shout-out in popularizing the movement’s aesthetics in popular culture.#7
2022
NathanHacham Report255pointsPOST
River Webb2 days ago
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.View More Replies…View more comments#8
The Future Of Phones, 1956
Known_Marzipan_2629 Report216pointsPOST
Linus Nilsson2 days ago
Not even in the imagined picture is it possible to hold the phone comfortably.91ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#9
1970s Futuristic Concept For Jetliner Air Travel
bignjbagel Report213pointsPOST
Truth Monster2 days ago
Imagine turbulence with that pool.215ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#10
1969 Japanese Vision Of The Future Classroom, The Odd Part Is That Included Small Robots To Rap Students On The Head When Misbehaving
Katie Potasky2 days ago
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.View More Replies…View more comments#11
James Bond Receives A “Text” Via His Smartwatch In The Spy Who Loved Me
Kathryn Baylis2 days ago
It when would he keep the roll of tape the message is stamped onto?33ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#12
‘ship’s Cat’ By Keith Spangle
River Webb2 days ago
cats of the future52ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#13
VR In 1989
ashe101ashe Report195pointsPOST
Electric Uncle Trash2 days ago
Not much has changed!68ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#14
Artoo Deco
firstorbit Report187pointsPOST
River Webb2 days ago
Star Wars inspiration38ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#15
How Nasa Imagined Life In Space
Rick Guidice Report184pointsPOST
Katie Potasky2 days ago
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.View more comments#16
Fashions Of 1950, As Predicted On The Cover Of Life Magazine In 1914
Katie Potasky2 days ago
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.View more comments#17
Futuristic Road Trip With The Family (Bruce Mccall)
earthmoonsun Report166pointsPOST
Linus Nilsson2 days ago
All else aside, is a pizza oven in the car too much to ask for?146ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#18
Home Shopping In The 1940s
earthmoonsun Report165pointsPOST
Hans2 days ago
“Yep, that looks like I don’t need it.”59ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#19
1981 Vision Of Suburbia After There’s No More Room Left For Suburbs
Elaine Verhagen2 days ago
I love the fact that everyone still has a garden and freestanding house instead of a balcony with no space.132ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#20
Soviet Vision Of The Future In The 1930s
TarOfficial Report158pointsPOST
Linus Nilsson2 days ago
No, I wont say it… Don’t you try forcing me to say it!96ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#21
Futuristic Netherlands, Drawn In 1970
Truth Monster2 days ago
Clever use of land.57ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#22
The 2020 Olympics…not 100% Accurate
last_of_the_V8s Report153pointsPOST
Katie Potasky2 days ago
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.View More Replies…View more comments#23
The Future We Were Promised
Rose the Cook2 days ago
The Hover Car.28ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#24
1984 Smart Watch
wooly_mastodon Report149pointsPOST
River Webb2 days ago
what a pain to put on61ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#25
City Of The Future As Imagined In 1908
Nea2 days ago
A very Hollywoodish imagination41ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#26
Monsanto House Of The Future 1957
N G2 days ago
Now I know where some of the Grand Designs lot got their inspiration. Anyone else looking for Kevin McCloud in this pic?46ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#27
This Was An Actual Space Suit Grumman Aircraft Corp Tried To Sell Nasa In 1962
Electric Uncle Trash2 days ago
Sweet!19ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#28
Worst Space Suit Design Ever?
captainmagictrousers Report127pointsPOST
Electric Uncle Trash2 days ago
No problem at all with exposed legs and arms. The vacuum of space won’t make you implode whatsoever.65ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#29
Teen-Agers Of The 21st Century
joelschlosberg Report114pointsPOST
N G2 days ago
Ah, teen-speak. Incomprehensible to the over 40s in the past, present and future!78ReplyView More Replies…View more comments#30
Nuke-Proof Underground City Below Manhattan, 1969 (Oscar Newman)
earthmoonsun Report110pointsPOST
Mr Red2 days ago
Or we could get rid of all nukes…125ReplyView More Replies…View more comments
Note: this post originally had 49 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
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Liucija AdomaiteWriter, BoredPanda staff
Liucija Adomaite is a creative mind with years of experience in copywriting. She has a dynamic set of experiences from advertising, academia, and journalism. This time, she has set out on a journey to investigate the ways in which we communicate ideas on a large scale. Her current mission is to find a magic formula for how to make ideas, news, and other such things spread like a virus. Read more »Show All Contributors
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