--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Apart from the seemingly magical…" description: "\"Apart from the seemingly magical Internet, life in broad material terms isn't so different from what it was in 1953... The wonders portrayed in 'The Je..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/tyler-cowen-4396_1960s_apart-from-the-seemingly-magical-interne_2045472.jpg" --- # Apart from the seemingly magical Internet, life in broad… ![“Apart from the seemingly magical Internet, life in broad material terms isn't so different from what it was in 1953... The wonders portrayed in 'The Jetsons,' the space-age television cartoon from the 1960s, have not come to pass... Life is better and we have more stuff, but the pace of change has…” quote by Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/tyler-cowen-4396_1960s_apart-from-the-seemingly-magical-interne_2045472.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/tyler-cowen-4396_1960s_apart-from-the-seemingly-magical-interne_2045472.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/tyler-cowen-4396_1960s_apart-from-the-seemingly-magical-interne_2045472.jpg) > “Apart from the seemingly magical Internet, life in broad material terms isn't so different from what it was in 1953... The wonders portrayed in 'The Jetsons,' the space-age television cartoon from the 1960s, have not come to pass... Life is better and we have more stuff, but the pace of change has slowed down.” [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Technological progress has slowed compared to past optimism; material abundance grew, but the rate of transformative change has decelerated. **In simple terms:** Change is slower now than in past futuristic visions. Key Takeaway Adapt to slower, incremental innovation. Themes technology progress optimism slowing change Mood analytical balanced Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - product development - policy planning - personal skill upgrades Key Concepts economic growth cultural expectations future studies Questions to Reflect On - What innovations do you think will accelerate change? - How can we maintain optimism amid slower progress? A Different Perspective Optimism may overlook current incremental breakthroughs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1960s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1960s-426/) [1960S Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1960s-come-3104114/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Broads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broads/) [Cartoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cartoon/) [Change Slowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-slowed-3827843/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Jetsons Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jetsons-space-3104113/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Pace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pace/) [Pace of change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pace-of-change/) [Portrayed Jetsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portrayed-jetsons-3104112/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-age-631221/) [Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuff/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [“...apart from the seemingly magical internet, life in broad material terms isn't so different from what it was in 1953...The wonders portrayed in THE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/apart-from-the-seemingly-magical-internet-life-in-broad-material/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [If I want to walk out in the desert and heat up a can of beans on a fire, I still can. In those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/if-i-want-to-walk-out-in-the-desert-and-heat-up-a-can-of-beans-on-a/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm old enough to remember the advent of CD. You thought, "What's this piece of space age technology that's in front of me?" Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mcginty-nichol/i-m-old-enough-to-remember-the-advent-of-cd-you-thought-what-s-this/) [Joseph McGinty Nichol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mcginty-nichol/) > [As a young boy growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I was inspired by the nascent space age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-m-grunsfeld/as-a-young-boy-growing-up-on-the-south-side-of-chicago-i-was-inspired/) [John M. Grunsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-m-grunsfeld/) > [“It took 350 years, since the invention of the telescope, to enter the space age, but it has taken only fifteen years since the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-took-350-years-since-the-invention-of-the-telescope-to-enter-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is the first convention of the space age - where a candidate can promise the moon and mean it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brinkley/this-is-the-first-convention-of-the-space-age-where-a-candidate-can/) [David Brinkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brinkley/) > [In the space age the most important space is between the ears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-armstrong/in-the-space-age-the-most-important-space-is-between-the-ears/) [Anne Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-armstrong/) > [In the space age, man will be able to go around the world in two hours - one hour for flying and one hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-h-mcelroy/in-the-space-age-man-will-be-able-to-go-around-the-world-in-two-hours/) [Neil H. McElroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-h-mcelroy/) > [“Our epoch has been give many nicknames--the Age of Anxiety, the Atomic Age, the Space Age. It might, with equally good reason, be called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/our-epoch-has-been-give-many-nicknames-the-age-of-anxiety-the-atomic/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The words 'Space Age' have a quaint, nostalgic tone - sitting on midcentury modern furniture watching 'The Jetsons.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-words-space-age-have-a-quaint-nostalgic-tone-sitting-on/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The pace of change means that relationship is more important than ever before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-mclaughlin/the-pace-of-change-means-that-relationship-is-more-important-than/) [Dave McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-mclaughlin/) > [Our world is defined by the pace of change. We can all change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edi-rama/our-world-is-defined-by-the-pace-of-change-we-can-all-change-the-world/) [Edi Rama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edi-rama/) > [I have in the past tended to overestimate the amount of change I can affect in the short run and then not fully appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-west/i-have-in-the-past-tended-to-overestimate-the-amount-of-change-i-can/) [Harry West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-west/) > [I think it's important to America's future and to the future of the American dream and our people and the unity and purpose and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-carter/i-think-it-s-important-to-america-s-future-and-to-the-future-of-the/) [Ashton Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-carter/) > [“What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore? Nobody really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/what-advice-would-you-give-to-a-smart-driven-college-student-about-to/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) ## More by Tyler Cowen > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [When humans team up with computers to play chess, the humans who do best are not necessarily the strongest players. They're the ones who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/when-humans-team-up-with-computers-to-play-chess-the-humans-who-do/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“The great adventures of life, the surprise of strangers, of strangeness, of the electric and eclectic moments of happenstance, and also of extreme ambition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/the-great-adventures-of-life-the-surprise-of-strangers-of-strangeness/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“Mark Liszewski, executive director of the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum (Hershey, Pennsylvania), remarked: “Instead of Ford versus Chevy, it’s Apple versus Android.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/mark-liszewski-executive-director-of-the-antique-automobile-club-of/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“Americans are in fact working much harder than before to postpone change, or to avoid it altogether, and that is true whether we’re talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/americans-are-in-fact-working-much-harder-than-before-to-postpone/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“three-quarters of today’s youth between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four are unfit to serve for one reason or another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/three-quarters-of-today-s-youth-between-the-ages-of-seventeen-and/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“Once you're using sides and sauces you're on the right track and you're also following the general principles about how to eat well in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/once-you-re-using-sides-and-sauces-you-re-on-the-right-track-and-you/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [A lot of local food is very tasty. I'm very happy to eat it. I just don't think it's the same thing as saving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/a-lot-of-local-food-is-very-tasty-i-m-very-happy-to-eat-it-i-just-don/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [If you and your skills are a complement to the computer, your wage and labor market prospects are likely to be cheery. If your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/if-you-and-your-skills-are-a-complement-to-the-computer-your-wage-and/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [Sports is remarkably cognitive. I think it's underrated just how smart it is. Actually, if I had more time, I would spend more time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/sports-is-remarkably-cognitive-i-think-it-s-underrated-just-how-smart/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“In other words, a culture of the casual is a culture of people who already have achieved something and who already can prove it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/in-other-words-a-culture-of-the-casual-is-a-culture-of-people-who/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [I see three forces militating in favor of growing inequality: increasing measurement of worker value added, automation through smart software, and globalization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/i-see-three-forces-militating-in-favor-of-growing-inequality/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“Few people read coffee-table photo books, and indeed they are not intended to be read. I find the text in these books is often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/few-people-read-coffee-table-photo-books-and-indeed-they-are-not/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“As chain stores rise, there is also a loss of dynamism, competition, and market entry for new ideas and products. Keep in mind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/as-chain-stores-rise-there-is-also-a-loss-of-dynamism-competition-and/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [The lesson about food is that the most predictable and the most orderly outcomes are always not the best. They are just easier to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/the-lesson-about-food-is-that-the-most-predictable-and-the-most/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) [Explore all 111 Tyler Cowen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) ## More 1960s quotes > [We do need different types of propulsion to get to Mars. I wrote one of the first Ph.D. theses on that in the 1960s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-do-need-different-types-of-propulsion-to-get-to-mars-i-wrote-one/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Sometimes a party must sail against the wind. We cannot heed the call of those who say it is time to furl the sail.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/sometimes-a-party-must-sail-against-the-wind-we-cannot-heed-the-call/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [ \[In the 1960s\]...you could take LSD but you couldn't wear a pantsuit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsey-johnson/in-the-1960s-you-could-take-lsd-but-you-couldn-t-wear-a-pantsuit/) [Betsey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsey-johnson/) > [Is it a coincidence that stories from the private life became more popular just as the grand hope for public redemption through revolution was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/is-it-a-coincidence-that-stories-from-the-private-life-became-more/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [I think the general anxiety of the 1960s - '70s spawned our interest in the living dead. When people worry about the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-brooks/i-think-the-general-anxiety-of-the-1960s-70s-spawned-our-interest-in/) [Max Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-brooks/) > [“A friend once told me a story about a former Black Panther leader in a Midwest community who in the 1960s had his phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-j-rodr-guez/a-friend-once-told-me-a-story-about-a-former-black-panther-leader-in/) [Luis J. Rodríguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-j-rodr-guez/) > [I was never bothered about my position in the industry. If I had believed in it, I wouldn't have allowed anyone to get ahead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dharmendra/i-was-never-bothered-about-my-position-in-the-industry-if-i-had/) [Dharmendra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dharmendra/) > [Under the system that we now have to nominate presidential candidates, for instance, I would prefer that we have a system that is closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/under-the-system-that-we-now-have-to-nominate-presidential-candidates/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) > [My son Bill, who came to me in 1960-he was 14 then, quoted the old parable to me: "It is not by their words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/my-son-bill-who-came-to-me-in-1960-he-was-14-then-quoted-the-old/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Much of the art of the 1960s, from body art to video and direct performance, was concerned with similar issues. And then there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/much-of-the-art-of-the-1960s-from-body-art-to-video-and-direct/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [I went through college in the 1960s without having any idea that I was going to have to make a living. When I graduated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/i-went-through-college-in-the-1960s-without-having-any-idea-that-i/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [“At the beginning of a decade when everything was beginning to seem possible, nothing seemed impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/at-the-beginning-of-a-decade-when-everything-was-beginning-to-seem/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) [Browse all 486 1960s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1960s-426/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Apart from the seemingly magical Internet, life in broad material terms isn't so different from what it was in 1953... The wonders portrayed in 'The Jetsons,' the space-age television cartoon from the 1960s, have not come to pass... 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