Ever wondered what the world would look like a century from now? If so, you’re not the only one.
Just like most of us probably imagine the year 2125 to be filled with intergalactic space travel, AI overlords or a nuclear apocalypse (if you’re feeling pretty pessimistic) the people of 1925 wondered a lot about what life for us would look like.
And it turns out that some of their predictions weren’t that far off.
Archibald Montgomery Low was a physicist and inventor (E. O. Hoppe/Getty Images)
One of the people to speculate about the distant future was English inventor and physicist Archibald Montgomery Low, who outlined his vision of what he believed life would look like 100 years on from his time, unearthed by genealogy website Findmypast.
Here are the ones which we may recognise in our day-to-day lives.
Television
TVs looked a lot different in Low’s day (Getty Stock Images)
Televisions existed in a very basic and experimental form during the 1920s, with John Logie Baird frequently sharing updates and demonstrations of his inventions. Low had also worked in the invention and development of the early television set, which he called the ‘TeleVista’ in 1914.
He also shared his predictions for how the medium would develop over the years, writing that ‘a television machine’ would overtake newspapers as our primary source of news and entertainment.
Automatic telephones
Mobile phones have come a long way in 10 years let alone 100 (Getty Stock Images)
While Low couldn’t have foreseen that we’d all be carrying a mini television around in our pockets, he was more than aware that the clunky rotary phones of the 1920s would eventually be upgraded by ‘automatic telephones’ capable of getting the number right every time.
At home ‘loud speaker’
The Nest Audio, which features Google virtual assistant (Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Another upgrade to our homes was Low’s prediction of an at home ‘loud speaker’ which would keep us up to date with the news. This can be seen in notifications beeping through on our phones and smart tech such as Google Home or Amazon’s Alexa.
Escalators
Much more convenient than walking up stairs (Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Back in the 1920s people had to rely on their own two feet to get them up stairs and across long corridors – what a time waster. However Low predicted that we would invent ‘moving sidewalks’ for our convenience. Much like the escalators and airport travelators which are used daily by many of us.
Renewable energy
Low also believed renewable energy was on the horizon (Getty Stock Images)
Back in Low’s day our country was powered by a combination of coal, gas and oil, creating the infamous smoggy landscapes seen in history textbooks for LS Lowry paintings.
However the inventor realised this wouldn’t be forever, predicting that ‘wind and tide’ would he harnessed to generate power.
“Life is to be made far easier by the use of machinery that will do all the heavy and disagreeable work,” he added.
Sound familiar?
Alarms
What’s better – this or some geezer hammering on your window? (Getty Stock Images)
Most of us are rudely awoken from our slumber by the sound of our alarms blaring out in the morning, before hitting snooze and repeating the whole process all over again, which is something which Low had envisioned back in the 1920s.
Prior to the creation of the alarm, workers would be woken up by a ‘knocker upper’ which is someone who would go around banging on everyone’s windows in the morning.
Frankly, we’re not sure which of the two is worse.
