Does anyone remember that episode of Futurama ‘Killer App’? The Planet Express gang all go and buy the new iPhone which is literally inserted into their eyes. The screen is projected in front of their eyes and they can blink to turn it on and off. The episode is about Fry filming Leela’s singing boyle which she calls Susan (and thinly veiled dig at reality star Susan Boyle - didn’t even know that she ‘made it’ to America) which she has to stab every few weeks. The video goes viral and Fry gets millions of followers. But evil Mom is planning on using Fry for his followers to release a virus. Plot aside, the science and technology seems like a look at the future. The Simpsons had already predicted events over the years, but I think Futurama also shines a light on possible outcomes.
I’ve said it a few times in jest that I get all my science from ‘Futurama’ but in some aspects of the show there are quite credible ideas that may become a real. The iPhone being inserted into consumers eyes is taking it to extreme BUT with the way technology is progressing I wouldn’t be surprised if a prototype was made in the next 20 years. This is of course if the world hasn’t imploded yet. Speaking of the environment, Futurama mentions that too in the episode about the floating rubbish ball out in space when the world didn’t know what to do with its mass waste. The fact that the citizens of Earth recycle everything in the year 3000 is something that us lot living in this decaying world we’ve destroyed could learn from. Now back to technology.
Technology is moving faster than anyone could have predicted apart from maybe JD Ballard and his mentions of selfies. When the robot who started to create its own language had to be shut down or destroyed, that was a wake up call and I’m sure more than a few immediately thought of Skynet and the Cyclons. Well, us who love science fiction, but with robots becoming self aware enough to create language, that’s worrying on so many levels. Obviously in Futurama there are plenty of robots, they have their own lives and are citizens like humans and aliens alike, but its not that aspect of the show that makes you think about the future. The iPhone joke has truth buried in it. As does a few other gadgets such as the virtual reality look to how the internet is used. Instead of just logging onto a computer, you can put on a suit and physically walk around, similar to the Oasis in Ready Player One.
The technological advances that are made by the year 3000 (hopefully that that Busted song dies a slow death) include adverts that invade your dreams, blank robots you can purchase and then clone on a famous person to be your date or otherwise, there’s a theme park on the moon and its tacky(!) and spaceships. Travel around the universe, let alone the world is THAT easy. Well easier if you work at a courier service and you use the spaceship for deliveries. The possibilities are endless as well as the discoveries being endless.
The science of Futurama is vast and absurd and always a joy to watch, whether its about clones, evil corporations that literally make everything with an evil leader who just wants to rule the world, or finding out where the ancient Egyptians really came from (SPOILER: space) or that cats too have an evil agenda, but I think most people could guess that.