2010 from 1972

Check out this small project that reviews a 1972 book’s view of what libraries would be like in 2010.

There are photos of several pages about libraries from Geoffrey Hoyle’s 1972 book “2010: Living in the Future”.

http://tinyurl.com/yjv78xs

“The halls and rooms on the upper floors are for hobbies. Here people make pottery, draw and paint pictures, build model airplanes, or play musical instruments. There are teachers to help you with every hobby.

A very popular room is the library. There are no books. The floor is shaped into tables and benches. Built into these tables are hundreds of vision phones. The books, films, and newspapers are all stored in the library computer.

First you dial the library index. This file contains all the books that have ever been written. It does not matter whether they were first written in Chinese or French. They will be here, translated into English. There is also an index of films and newspapers. You could spend all day watching comics, but it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

http://tinyurl.com/ykb4w4m

“To select the book you wish to read, you dial the book’s number. The first page appears on your screen. You can turn the pages backward or forward by using buttons on the vision phone.

If you are halfway through a book and you have to leave, there is no reason why you can’t finish it when you get home. You can dial the library and the book number from home and go on with your reading.

While you are in the library, you might look at some travel film, to help you decide where to go for your summer vacation.

How about Australia? It seems a long way away, but it doesn’t take so long by airplane. You will find sandy beaches, blue skies, and endless sunshine along the Great Barrier Reef.

There are glass-bottomed boats through which you could watch the tropical fish.”

Anyway, the book and the comments are fascinating and it’s a real trip back to 1972 which would have been my last year in high school.

It’s actually quite a fun site to read.

Stephen