It's true enough: we were so good at imagining the future, once upon a time, that even though we've ended up with some pretty great things our present just can't compare with the future we thought we were getting. Would you REALLY rather have an Ipod than a jet pack?

But on the other hand, we've gradually been freeing ourselves from some of that social baggage whose weight keeps us dragging our heels through the turnstiles of the future. So since we can nearly see our way ahead to the days when the metallic content - or the color - of our outer selves won't make a pig's whisker of a difference to anyone, maybe we're getting a better bargain than it seems we are, when we dwell on that whole flying car thing.

And that's the dichotomy I like about this picture. On its own shiny and colorful outer self it's about one thing, but it could just as easily be about another. And whichever way you choose to see it, it's always "Not what it used to be".

This is yet another T-shirt design [link] for my Retropolis Transit Authority site, among other things.