this post was submitted on 23 May 2025
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History Memes

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[–] tiramichu@lemm.ee 43 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

As amusing as these are, I have to assume that a lot of the time these things aren't direct predictions of the future, but instead a visual metaphor for what it might look like.

The big funnel full of books ("books go in") and hand crank ("work is done") are such that any regular joe of the time can look at it and see "ah yes, this is a machine that eats up books and zaps them into your head!"

If someone had to make a serious prediction at what such a future machine might look like, I doubt it would have looked so haphazard as that, with books funnelled in like coal.

For all I know, this illustration isn't serious at all, and could be nothing more than political satire - on the danger of technology in education - and massively exaggerated just as our current political satire is. The things of true value (the books) are chewed up like worthless fodder for the machine, while the students sit bored, all the interest of learning taken away, as they can no longer learn for themselves. Meanwhile the "teacher" sits there all pompous, getting paid for apparently doing almost nothing!

There's a lot of reasons this illustration could be the way that it is.

[–] uservoid1@lemmy.world 41 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Or you can interpret the image: Students get brainwashed via headphone propaganda while real books are shredded.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Or they're using active noise cancelling headphones to prevent the children from hearing the destruction of the books, which naturally they would want to prevent. They just couldn't imagine that noise cancelling headphones could be wireless.

[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago

"10 hours straight. He's a machine... and my arms are tired from the crank"

"I know Kung-fu"

"You better, that was our last copy of Kung Fu Elements, by Shou-Yu Liang"

[–] ummthatguy@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

Misguided future interpretation aside, I'm very fond of the user's icon of Big-fat-ugly-bug-face-baby-eating O'Brien from Muppet Treasure Island.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

That's the whole problem with education today - lazy teachers want a motorized crank!

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is my favourite. I love being able to video chat with my sister in NZ. As someone who grew up with big black bakelite dial phones, it seems like a miracle.

[–] Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 months ago

Just as surreal as that flying car!

[–] synapse1278@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is exactly how I remember primary schools in France in the 2000's

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

I see someone else also interpreted L'an 2000 as such :)

[–] Jimmycakes@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

Guess the kid turning the churn don't get to learn shit today

[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Wha-
What happens to the books after they go into the machine?
Are they reusable?
Do they have to be printed anew?

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

Skyrim spell book rules

[–] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

That's how you digitize books, obviously. It's so easy!

[–] Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

Oh this is great. Google has a treasure trove of these kind of pictures.

[–] froufox@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 2 months ago

It's a LLM which eats books to learn. Quite precise

[–] PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

On the flip side, there are many ancillary conventions that we keep to this day because we don't examine them.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

QWERTY. We have had better layouts since…before the invention of computers lol.

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

So..audiobooks

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

At least they accurately predicted the term "LAN".

[–] Matty_r@programming.dev 1 points 2 months ago

I imagine EN is short form for Ethernet. Nailed it.