Twenty-Five Years Into the Future We Were Promised

Why we’re still using 19th-century power grids, stuck in low Earth orbit, and what that says about our ambition

Today marks a genuine milestone: we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 21st century. Yes, I know what you’re thinking—didn’t we already do this back in 2025? But no. The 21st century actually began on January 1, 2001, not 2000.

This isn’t me being difficult. The CE calendar—or AD, if you prefer—started with Year 1. There was no Year 0. Count fro…