It's 2010: Where's my futuristic stuff?

We finally made it! 2010! We are officially living in the future!

How does it feel to be driving around in your new hovercraft? Don't you adore your shiny, silver, hi-tech jumpsuit? And tell me you can't get enough of that button in the kitchen that shoots out perfectly prepared roast beef from a little door in the wall!!! How's your robot dog doing????

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm still waiting for my damned jet pack...

So, if the future is now, where's my stuff???!!! I hate to say it, but I have the distinct feeling I've been rooked. It doesn't feel very futuristic here in 2010.

I used to regularly watch TV shows like Space 1999, Ark II, Twilight Zone and The Jetsons, dreaming of the amazing technology of the future. How about that cool Ark II Winnebago trolling a post-apocalyptic world with Adam the talking monkey at the helm? Or what about that robot maid, Rosie, the Jetsons had?  I sure could use her! Sign me up for that condo on the moon!

I loved movies like Logan's Run, Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey and anything about the future just beyond my grasp. I wondered what futuristic new gadgets & technological wizardry awaited me in 2010 - perhaps a non-homicidal version of the Hal 9000?!

I long to say to Scotty, "Beam me up to the hologram deck, I'm ready to bask under the four suns of Gandar with my 3 headed space cat."

That would be so awesome...

Apparently, the tech downturn in 2001 was worse than I thought. It's 2010 and I don't even have a phaser I can set to stun...

That said, it hasn't been a total loss, we do have the Internet, iPhones, The Prius, the super collider at CERN, the "Roomba", DVRs, the Hubble Telescope and the Segway! That's not bad, but it's definitely not a personal mini-spaceship that can jump to hyper-drive in 3.2 seconds - now that's something to get excited about!

I'm sure we'll eventually get there, but I can't help but think that science and technology has a long way to go before I can get my anti-gravity basketball shoes or eat at that restaurant at the end of the universe.

We'll, until I can shake my disappointment, I guess I'll just put on my spandex jacket and listen to Donald Fagan's I.G.Y. song, daring to dream that 2020 will bring me the three headed space cat I've coveted for so long...

Lyrics to I.G.Y. by a fella with compassion and vision...