As a prolific inventor and possessor of more than 1,000 patents, Thomas Edison helped shape the day-to-day life of people living in the 20th century and beyond. His expertise in future tech solidified with his involvement in the creation of the phonograph, motion picture cameras, and a rudimentary tattoo gun. Edison sat for an interview with the Miami Metropolis, published on June 20, 1911 (via Paleofuture), where he described the myriad treasures and changes that awaited the human race.
Edison was particularly astute on transportation matters. Predicting the imminent demise of steam engine-powered locomotives, Edison believed that in 100 years’ time, trains would run on electricity, but that the average tourist would dismiss high-speed rail travel in favor of sophisticated airplanes that would fly at speeds upwards of two hundred miles an hour.
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How correct was Edison? Rail lines started to phase out steam engine trains in the 1920s, so he was dead-on from his 1911 perspective. Further, electric trains first went into mainstream operation in Europe in the 1910s, with that method of power used in a third of the world’s railway systems by the 2010s. As for the airplanes, Edison was correct about large, commercial airplanes but not about their speed. Transcontinental commercial jet airliners fly in excess of 500 miles per hour on average, much speedier than Edison’s lofty prediction.
