Why The Jetsons still matters (2012)

> but today “The Jetsons” stands as the single most important piece of 20th century futurism.

Only a single, off-hand mention of Star Trek in the whole article?

	▲	jolt42 6 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Yeah that's a pretty blanket statement, although the day-to-day life aspect helps a lot.
	▲	mpalmer 33 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yeah this is wild. Someone grew up watching old cartoons and not much else?

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MisterTea 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

From 2012 so AI doesn't factor in which would be more interesting in comparison.

Having watched the Jetsons as a kid I remember that George Jetson worked for Spaceley Sprockets where his only job was to push a single button. He worked with a computer personality called Rudy (an AI) who from memory was always depressed and had a crush on a female computer personality of rival company Cogsworth Cogs.

It would be interesting to revisit this with a focus on the relationship and interactions between humans and their AI/robotics.

	▲	pnexk 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		On the contrary, it being published in 2012 makes it feel a little closer to 20th century mode of traditional media cultural criticism which felt a little more grounded than it is now in established media. It’s also interesting for me because it’s a small slice of insight into the cultural consciousness of people’s perceptions of the trajectory of technology and its ills & promises at the time. It may sound like I’m exaggerating how long ago this was, but it really does feel like 2015 onwards was a large disruption from the expected status quo in the West in both good and bad ways. Not just in politics (Cambridge analytica?)but also in the way the general public perceived the technology industry and the nature of the kind of force it is at large in society.
	▲	ChrisMarshallNY an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> the relationship and interactions between humans and their AI/robotics Are you familiar with Questionable Content[0]? He sort of takes it "all the way." [0] https://questionablecontent.net
	▲	klez 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Frankly? I personally think that would be boring. The fun part is IMHO the retro futurism, what people tried to extrapolate about physical automation and aesthetic.
	▲	JKCalhoun 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I wonder if that was part of the original 1-season canon or a later episode from the 70's.

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JKCalhoun 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"1975 and the Changes to Come" [1], a book from 1962 that was mentioned as inspirational to the creator of the show.

[1] https://archive.org/details/1975changestocom0000arno/page/32...

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t1234s an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I always wondered what the earth looked like below? Were the Jetson's part of a breakaway civilization like in the movie Elysium?

	▲	showerst 43 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		A common joke is that it was the flintstones.
	▲	diogotozzi an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I used to think, as a kid, that's a colonized planet. Nothing down there but rainforest.

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refactor_master an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Maybe I was stupid or maybe it just doesn’t hit the same way if you don’t grow up in the US, but I remember not being terribly fascinated by it as a 90s kid. In fact, I found it kind of uncanny that the world felt so… disconnected. I later learned this was called “modernist architecture”.

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Daub 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The Jetsons was honored by the Power Puff girls with a number of Easter egg appearances. Just search ‘power puff firms and jetsons’ for examples.

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ninalanyon an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> “The Jetsons” stands as the single most important piece of 20th century futurism.

LOL. Perhaps it's important to Americans.

I'm not sure I've seen a single episode, I certainly didn't see it when it was broadcast.

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kreelman 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Interestingly, if we could do floating orbital platforms above Venus, it could perhaps look a little like the Jetsons.