- Growing up, even thinking of what 2001 would hold seemed like sci fi. The dystopian science fiction film, “Blade Runner,” released in 1982, predicted a 2019 where genetically engineered replicants and flying cars were commonplace. Yet here we are, just 4 years short of that world, and nary a household android in sight. Although we do have the Roomba, and it’s many delights.
But things have changed a great deal in my years on the planet. What seemed to be set in stone wasn’t. The women who wore garter belts and stockings embraced pantyhose; manual typewriters morphed into electronic keyboards; the massive ENIAC computer shrank to tablet size. Yes, the world of technology reinvented the things we took for granted. It also changed how we saw each other.