#norman wright

By October 5, 2000, newspapers had movable text and animated pictures. People could travel by Space Liner. One space liner was forced down on the moon, but the news declared all were safe. There were promises of tax cuts. The new Q bomb was tested on Mars. Food ads had smells to entice potential buyers. Homes and offices were computerized with the computer interface built into the wall. Automated features included hands free make-up/powder as well as it would put your hat on for you. A typical work week was 11 to 3 (with a two hour lunch) 3 days a week. Walking was almost non-existent as chairs had motorized wheels and was even able to enter your car and lock into place so you wouldn’t have to get out of it. Automobiles of the year 2000 were propelled by rockets and fully automated and drove by themselves. However, there were certain buttons the rider could use for limited manual control like “Pass” which allowed the car to temporarily sprout wings and fly over the slower vehicle ahead of them. The other buttons were "go", "stop", "fast", and "slow". A typical speed was somewhere over 50, but the speedometer went all the way up to 250. The driver could call other cars using a microphone as long as they knew what their license plate number was. Some cars’ cabins were on gimbals so that the driver stayed in the same position whether they were on an incline or a decline. Some choose to just park their cars on a commuter’s van, which did the driving for them. Each member of the family had their own garage. Meals consisted of food pills (meals could also be in drink form) that were brought to the table through an automated system. The cleaning was automated as well. The table folded into the wall and became a large TV screen with images that could actually leap off the screen. Some programs were even interactive. Due to the ease of lifestyle, people could live in excess of a 100 (“Your Safety First” Flm)

In Memoriam: David Ashford, British Comics Historian