

OMNI Magazine Collection: Complete Archive from 1978-1998 - wallflower
https://archive.org/details/omni-magazine

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msluyter
Thanks so much for posting this. I had just recently gone through a bit of
Omni nostalgia and was wondering where to find copies of the originals. It's
hard to specify, exactly, but I think Omni had a powerful influence on my life
(perhaps unconsciously). Reading through the first issue, I'm struck by the
optimism and the almost naive -- by modern standards -- reverence for science.
And yet, those feelings are largely still with me and have no doubt led to my
career in software development.

Also standing out, a survey about the expected date of possible events:

    
    
      1. First woman elected president.
      2. Nuclear war between the US & USSR
      3. US commits troops to Africa to counter Communist incursions
      4. Gasoline reaches 25 cents/liter
      5. First terrorist use of nuclear weapons
      6. Return to pre-sixties standards of morality and the end of "Permissive Society."
      7. Manned landing on Mars
      8. First public paying passengers on an orbital spaceflight
      9. Industrialization of space becomes an important source of income
      10. Computer beats (human) world chess champion
      11. World shortage of animal protein makes meat too expensive for the average american household.
      12. Contact made with extra-terrestrial life.
      13. A human is cloned
      14. ESP is accepted as fact by the majority of scientists.
      15. Average life expectancy is 100 years or more
      16. Computers have self-awareness and are more intelligent than humans.
      17. The majority of South American governments become communist or ultra-left
      18. Economic collapse of the west as predicted by Marxist commentators.
      19. Revolution in the USSR leads to overthrow of the existing regime and replacement by a liberal "pro-western" government.
      20. Marriage as an institution virtually disappears within the US, with over 75% of babies born out of wedlock. 
    

One amazing thing about this survey is that the timeline _ended_ with 2000+.
Meaning, the time we're living in now was the far out future by Omni
standards. And of these, I believe only #4 and #19 (partially) came about
before 2000. Since then, only #8, #10.

~~~
rpm4321
10 happened before 2000, in 1997 -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue_versus_Garry_Kasparov>.

Also, regarding 15, I believe actuaries are now expecting 100 year average
lifespans for people born around 2010.

Also, 17 might arguably be true.

Totally agree with you regarding Omni, though. I was too young to really get
what I was skimming through, but even just seeing the cover art at the library
every week was really inspiring.

~~~
msluyter
Woah. Kasparov vs. Deep blue. I'd forgotten it had been that long ago.

