In the year 2889

Read for What's in a name

In the year 2889, Verne's story on an ultra-modern future in the USA really fascinated me.  It echoes so much today's elements, that I still cannot believe that people in 1889 (when it was published) could be such visionaries.  I can only but list the predictions for 2889, which have already materialised:

pneumatic tubes -- bullet train in Japan?
accumulators -- renewable energy
telephotic journalism -- internet
telephote -- skype
commutators - WAP services
classification -- web engine results
the Moon is uninhabited -- this was confirmed in 1969...
asphyxiating shells -- atomic bomb or nuclear reactor?
(the Chinese government bothering others... no comment)
A private joke?  UK colony to the USA, India to Russia, Australia independent.  Nothing is left for the UK, except for Gibraltar -- the future order of things???
touch knob to listen to music -- radio (invented in 1901)
electro reckoner -- calculator
live coverage of major events -- the birth of papparazzi???


The language used is suitable for a young adult audience, as with most of Verne's books.  Where I stood speechless was the vision and imagination of this person, and consequently the lack of vision and imagination of our present society.  We have accumulated such wealth of comforts around us and have assumed that this is the reality, that we've stopped having visions.  It hit a nerve to think that in 1889, when people had nothing compared to present-day, when they did not know who lived in the village next to theirs, let alone in a neighbouring country, when travel was extremely difficult and time-consuming, that they would nevertheless think of a "better" world with the comforts of our lives today.  What are WE doing?? Why have we lost that vision?  Can we do something before it's too late? Can we ever leave our comfort zone...