Sci Fi. What else did they get wrong?

Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Sci fi, no matter how good or brilliant, is just a mirror held up to the thought of that moment in time...and it's technology.

In most old sci fi...even Star Trek, you had the "master computer", running things. No sci fi writer envisioned "everyone" having their own, super tiny, high powered computers!!!! (or the grid they could create).

What other major "goofs" is there in good sci fi, where the writers just couldn't predict the future quite right?
10/16/2012
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Contributor: mistressg mistressg
I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but I'm interested to see the responses to this.
10/16/2012
Contributor: mistressg mistressg
Oooh! I've got one! Flying cars. That's not a popular means of transportation.
10/16/2012
Contributor: Ryuson Ryuson
Quote:
Originally posted by Bignuf
Sci fi, no matter how good or brilliant, is just a mirror held up to the thought of that moment in time...and it's technology.

In most old sci fi...even Star Trek, you had the "master computer", running things. No sci fi writer ... more
I think that there's not much they've gotten 'wrong.' We still can have hovercars and master computers! One thing that I really can't see happening fro a long time is the Beyond The Fall of Night future by Arthur C Clarke (at least the first half) where the world collapsed into itself after alien attacks and came up with a perfect city. There were no diseases, the sidewalks moved for you, and no one questioned anything about where they were.

I also think that lightsabers aren't going to come around any time soon, but they weren't meant to be an accurate prediction of future technology.
10/16/2012
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
It's fiction, not future fact. The only writer who ever did it "right" was H.G. Wells.
10/16/2012
Contributor: Huff Huff
I was going to say Planetary Government. We on this little blue ball can't seem to get along so how can one single authority run a planet or a whole galactic empire.
But then I realised that most dystopian futures are not run by governments but instead controlled by huge corporations. So the sci-fi writers pretty much got it right.
10/17/2012