Kristina Killgrove, an anthropologist at the University of North Carolina, sent us a fascinating collection of postcards painted by the French artist Villemard in the very early 1900s.  His paintings are meant to depict futuristic life in the year 2000.  While there is much to admire here, what I find most fascinating is his underestimation of the pace of technological change.  Though his ideas are rather timeless, by 2000 the technology in most of the scenarios he envisioned looked downright vintage.  It’s a testament to how quickly our world is changing.  As my friend and dance partner Bill Nye likes to say, “just  100 years ago we were riding around in horse-drawn carriages.”  Who knows what is next, or when it will get here.

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