Arthur C. Clarke accurately describes the 21st century...in 1976
by Eric Mack
February 5, 2015
British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). Unlike his "Space Odyssey" sequel "2010," his real vision of today was dead on.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
In 1964, Isaac Asimov wrote up a set of predictions about life in 2014. He was pretty close on a few and way off on others. That same year, author and inventor Arthur C. Clarke appeared on the BBC and described a world of instant global communication made possible by satellites. He talked briefly about the coming wonders of telemedicine and ubiquitous telecommuting.
This week, AT&T released another Clarke video from its archives that was recorded at a conference in 1976. In a brief interview, Clarke expands on his vision of the time we're living in now, with a focus on communication. He nails almost everything, from the Internet and email to smartphones, Google and even smartwatches.
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