Sep 7 2010
Arthur C. Clarke and the Dot Com Lifestyle
Sir Arthur C. Clarke is one of the most famous science fiction authors and was known as one the “Big Three” of science fiction (the other two were Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov). His book, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the film made from it inspired a whole generation of children to pursue engineering and the natural sciences.
Predicting the Future in 1964
In addition to his writing ability, he had a talent for predicting the future. The video clip below shows him predicting what the future may hold 50 years later. This is from a BBC programme called Horizon made in 1964. At the time, there was no Internet and its forerunner, ARPANET, wouldn’t go online until 1969. He predicted what is becoming more and more common today: people working from home and making money online. Instead of going to a physical location to work, they would be able to work anywhere and communicate with clients/co-workers through the Internet.
Highlights of the Video
“A world in which we can be instant contact with each other, wherever we may be, we can contact our friends anywhere on earth even if we don’t know their actual physical locations. It will be possible in that age, perhaps only 50 years from now, for a man to conduct his business from Haiti or Bali just as well as he could from London. In fact, if it would prove worthwhile, almost any executive skill, any administrative skill, even many physical skills could be made independent of distance. I am perfectly serious when I suggest that one day we may have brain surgeons in Edinburgh operating on patients in New Zealand. When that time comes, the whole world would have shrunk to a point and the traditional role of a city as a meeting place for man would have ceased to make any sense. In fact, men will no longer commute, they will communicate. They won’t have to travel distance any more, they’d only travel for pleasure.”
The Dot Com Lifestyle for Everyone
We’re not quite at the point which Clarke describes and it will probably be another decade or two for it to happen. Canada and the US are increasingly becoming information and services based which is ideal for working online. The only real challenge is the acceptance of working this way and if the growth of social networking is any indication, we’re well on our way there.