The Jetsons

OK, just stay with me on this. The Jetsons might seem like a squeaky-clean depiction of the future, but think about it: Why are all the buildings so high up? It must be a seriously polluted wasteland down there. And that’s not the only thing that’s creepy about The Jetsons – you’ve also got technology having completely invaded the lives of humanity – meals, clothes, even art is prepared by computers instead of humans. Pretty creepy, right?

Blade Runner

A more traditional dystopian future can be found in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, which depicts a far-flung future Los Angeles where it’s always raining and giant billboards loom over everyone. There’s also the matter of humanlike rogue replicants running around causing mayhem, which is why the “Blade Runner” of the title (Harrison Ford) has to hunt them down and “retire” them. Would you want to live in a world where Harrison Ford is paid to kill Rutger Hauer?

Minority Report

Behold, a chilling vision of things to come!

Like Blade Runner, Minority Report is also based on a work by Phillip K. Dick, and the future is almost as scary – especially if you hate advertising. But even if you don’t, you might be bothered by the notion of “Precrime,” in which people are arrested and lobotomized for murders they would supposedly have committed, according to three “precogs” (who sometimes disagree on what the future holds, hence the “minority report“). When the precogs say that Tom Cruise, head of Precrime himself, is set to commit murder, he has to go on the run from his own people.

At any rate, if Minority Report really is coming to pass, is that such a bad thing? Sure, it means we’ll gradually lose our constitutional rights and bow down to Tom Cruise, but that’s a small price to pay for self-driving cars and genetically altered plants that attack intruders. Also, I’ve always wanted to do a bald girl with psychic powers being kept in suspended animation, so really, this is a win-win for me. But take a look at the infographic and decide for yourself.

Click the pic to enlarge…

Created by: Criminology

Well, production design is an aspect of films that often goes overlooked due to the fact that it can’t (easily) be attributed to a single person. However, it’s easy to see and recognize thematic similarities in the “look” of many films, many of which mirror the sleek, simple interface and aesthetic that Apple products have firmly entrenched in our lives. Strangely enough, these films largely come from late 70’s, and even those that don’t are forward-looking rather than contemporary. So why are no current films taking the look of the ubiquitous products to win the hearts and minds of audiences?

Probably cause all the designers that have the Apple sensibilities have been scooped up by Apple.

6. 2001

While the year 2001 didn’t give us quite the stark shiny white surfaces that this Kubrick sci-fi classic teased us with, it’s hard to look at those hibernation chambers and not think of the MacBooks that share the simple white design.

Of course, my iPod hasn’t become sentient and self-aware the way HAL did, but that’s probably just a matter of time.

“iPod, play the Spin Doctors “Two Princes.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Penn.”

5. A Clockwork Orange

Another Kubrick film makes the list with A Clockwork Orange, a satirical look forward at 1995 London. Thankfully, London, nor any other place looked anything like this in 1995. While the design here is clearly more edgy and twisted than 99% of the industrial design out there (My MacBook Pro doesn’t have a tuft of fuchsia pubic hair, I don’t think), it screams “clean and simple,” the same words Steve Jobs no doubt screamed at his designers as they were working 100-hour weeks in order to meet a production deadline.