Work Day 40 Years in the Future
March 27, 2008 by Geoff Jennings · Comments Off
A magazine article printed four decades ago by James R. Berry, containing predictions of what life would be like in 2008 has been republished online here, and it holds some surprisingly accurate details. Or does it??
“People have more time for leisure activities in the year 2008. The average work day is about four hours. But the extra time isn’t totally free. The pace of technological advance is such that a certain amount of a jobholder’s spare time is used in keeping up with the new developments—on the average, about two hours of home study a day.”
What the author failed to account for here, was the rise of economic rationalism, which meant that, although folks got their jobs done quicker due to technology, companies decided that individuals could now do the job that previously two of them did…
Mr Berry also predicted that:
” The single most important item in 2008 households is the computer.”
Although my itouch stands a pretty strong second place.
“Computers also handle travel reservations, relay telephone messages, keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, compute taxes and even figure the monthly bills for electricity, water, telephone and other utilities.”
Nice one. On the money Mr Berry (though somehow, even with all the reminders in the world, I still manage to forget my wedding anniversary!)
