Where's My Space Age?

I was putting away books in my library the other day, when I came across one entitled Where's My Space Age?. The book is actually a design reference for 1960s space-age design stuff, and is beside the point. But it got me thinking. Where is my space age?

As a child, I seem to recall promises of space flight, colonies on the moon, and general assumptions that we'd be all living off nuclear power and driving hovercrafts to work. Certainly, if you look at any of the decent sci-fi series, we're already falling behind their timelines! In Star Trek, for example, the 1990s saw the great explosion of genetic engineering, leading to the expulsion of the genentically-enhanced dictators who had taken over the world (including your favourite, and mine, Khan). None of this has happened yet! Or maybe it has and we just don't know it....

What I loved the best about this vision of the future were the little things, designed to make everyone's lives better. My personal favourite was the hovercraft. I love the idea of being able to drive over any surface to travel around. And think about it. It makes sense. Think of all the congestion problems that would be solved, and parking would be so much easier!

On a related note, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always answer something along the lines of "well, at least 50% of the jobs that will be around when I'm grown up haven't been invented yet, so I can't tell you" (yes I was a smartearse kid - that may surprise you!). Instead, I'm working to be a librarian, in a library full of books (not even books on some futuristic format!), and I don't even have a wacky robot sidekick to keep me company! We have a long way to go, people!