Kind Of, Sort Of - Walter Cronkite Describes 2001 In 1967 (Video)

In the 1960s imaginative creatives put a lot of thought and idealism into what they envisioned life would be like in the 21st century. This video, hosted by Walter Cronkite and produced by educational publishers McGraw-Hill, is a display of the most popular prototype concepts designed during the 1960s. It's all quite mod, with a great deal of energy and material conservation and efficiency in mind. Some concepts came fairly close to the actuality of 2001, but the variables that the designers, engineers, and other creatives had no control over - politics and economics - drastically affected much of their good-natured optimism. 

Personally, I think the 2001 in 1967 was way cooler than the 2001 of 2001. Still, there's a lot of the 21st century left - it's hard to be as excited about the future as the folks were mid-twentieth century, but maybe down the line humans will rediscover that ability to imagine and create a fabulous future.