no it isn't...
We've got hi-def and motion sensing consoles which play films we download off the internet for free at better than telly quality. We've Star Trek communicators in our pockets- iPhones and N95s, which can tap into all the world's knowledge, tell you where you are in three-d and get you where you are going by TALKING TO SATTELITES and will bring your record collection with you when you go, and when you get there you can take video and pictures and watch another film and play a game which is a million times prettier than your BBC Micro. All the above are infinite porn-enabled these days, we can get a train to France and have a video conversation with New Zealand. We can create new types of plant and animal on a whim and Dr. Who is the best thing on telly, with eye candy galore and production values way above Star Wars. Heart surgery is a trifling thing compared to fifteen years ago and you can have glasses or get your eyes shot into shape with a laser. Want to change sex? There's never been a more innovative time to do so, and a career in porn awaits. Someone successfully filmed Lord Of The Rings. £400, which is a lot less now than it was when I was ten, buys you a full recording studio in a laptop which does all the other stuff as well... for the equivalent price of a four-track. My toothbrush plays Queen songs through my teeth in ultrasound. Mountain bikes are space age compared to 1980. Ships are pulled across the atlantic with traction kites. Police use tazers. Grandparents play handheld Nintendos with two screens, a microphone and wireless internet. Etheopians have laptops with open source operating systems for the price of a very snazzy pair of trainers. There's a LOT more nudity on telly. We can choose from a staggering range of alcohol in supermarkets, our money is digital, we have a cafe culture in city centres and any day now Thatcher will curl up her toes.

That's plenty of progress, an ideal future for anyone twenty five or so years ago.
(governmentyard, Fri 27 Jun 2008, 23:45, Reply)