What's in store for the next 100 years

[Ernie]

A Century Ago...
Maybe this will boggle your mind, I know it did mine! The year is 1905 over one hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!

Here are some of the U.S. statistics for 1905:

The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.

With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents an hour.

The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,

a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home .

Ninety percent of all U.S. physicians had no college education.

Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two of 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores.

According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!)

Eighteen percent of households in the U.S had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.

And I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years . it staggers the mind.

[shinnlinger]

Thanks for sharing, that was a good read....  Interesting that coffee costs about the same now (adjusted for inflation) as it did then...

[moonhill]

Exponentially changes are happening faster than you can think.  It won't take 100 years to boggle the mind, more like 10 if that. 

Look at the death rate due to murder, 230/year, something to think about.

Tim

[fishpharmer]

Thanks Ernie.

The first three statistics are the most profound.  Obviously taking baths while talking on the telephone leads to longer lives. ;)

I know there has been a lot stories and such about going into the future, time travel if you will.

If you had a one way ticket, would you want to go forward a hundred years?  Or back a hundred years?

Might first inclination is to go back.  But.........I am trying to envision the solar/nuclear powered laser sawmills that will be sawing the cloned ultra fast growing super black walnut trees (patent pending).  Could be teleported on site in a matter of seconds.  Hmmmmmmm.
: :D

[Don_Papenburg]

The murder rate was low because people knew how to handle a gun and almost all households had a gun or two.  the people were more neighborly and had respect for others for the most part.

When the socialism takes over the US the life expectancy will be on a downward spiral.  
global cooling will be the topic of the day.
everything will cost so much more  and wages will be less than today.
But not to worry  the gov will just tax the rich and give you some of the money.

[beenthere]

Maybe a hover-craft over the trees in the forest, with all the GPS information, stand information, and value of each product in the tree deep inside its internal computer. The tree will be drawn into the craft, and sliced, diced, chipped, and pulped. The products will be passed out through sub-hover craft and delivered to the big box stores, the printing (prolly not) plants, furniture plants, and pre-made house modules.

Be like the oil well rigs in the sea. LeeB will be able to have a job way into the future as he knows what's up.  ;D

[Toolman]

I believe the City of Philadelphia has surpassed that murder rate this year alone.

[SwampDonkey]

My great grandmother had one of the only phones around the neighborhood and one of grandfather's cousins the only TV. Most people could not afford either in those days. I think this was back in the late 50's-early 60's. Not really that far back. Most people never had a full bathroom until the 60's, many not until the 70's. At that time most wells were hand pump and some spring fed. My grandmother's house was still on spring until the early 90's. My cousin dug his well less than 10 years ago, he was on the same old spring. Might be unique to this area because most of the population is rural.

[Toolman]

My great-grandfather had bought his first TV back in the mid 40's. He was the first in the neighborhood to have one. My Grandfather told me that the they would invite the neighbors over on Sat nights to watch the 1 or 2 channels they could receive. That was how he met my Grandmother. She was 3 yrs. younger. They ended up watching TV together for 67 more years! He joked that she married him then just so she could watch that TV set  :D

[moonhill]

I have heard that technology is here, beyond our imagination, but it would be too much of a shock so it is metered out so as not to shock us.  It is hinted at here and there, a fictitious glimpse now and then.  Everything is getting smaller and more powerful, smaller and it can do more.  As an example I just received my new passport, two kinds the land and water pass and the book allowing air travel.  They both have RFID chips in them, they must be of a very small size for they are undetectable.  About 5 years ago we bought a dog which the breeder had to inject under the skin a small RFID chip it was the size of a grain of rice.  We were told it was incase the dog was stolen and at some time taken to the vet the vet could scan the dog and see that it was stolen.  Maybe some day we will all have one.

Tim

[Ron Wenrich]

Maybe we already do.   

[Jeff]

Maybe we already do.   

Que the twilight zone music.