How cool is this?

Anyone remember Mr. Mugs?

I never really liked the Mr Mugs stories when I was in school, because I found them too boring. There was little story and zero character development (yeah, I was a geek, but then, I was a kid who read). But there was this one Mr Mugs adventure I really liked. I think it was called Mr Mugs Goes to the Moon, or some such inventive and creative title *ahem*. Anyway, it focused on space exploration and the future. Even the cheesy drawings of Mr Mugs in his space suit didn't turn me off. I was fascinated by it, I loved all the possibilities it postulated. It presented a positive version of the future, and made it seem like when I grew up, this was how life would be.

As I got older I continued to be drawn to science fiction, and fantasy. My parents gave me the book the Hobbit when I was about 7, and that pretty much sealed the deal. When my dad introduced me to Star Trek, I was convinced that when I grew up, we zip to the moon just like people hop on a plane today, and I couldn't wait to go.

Even today when I see movies, I marvel at future technologies and wonder, when will we have something like that?

Don't laugh.

Your cell phone is very much like those old communicators from Star Trek. Skype much? Jules Verne predicted this video chatting technology in his novel In The Year 2889, which was published in 1889. Michael Crichton’s 1972 thriller The Terminal Man: the implants in the main character's brain were not unlike implants later developed to help deaf people hear and blind people see. Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451″ predicted that large home theater mounted on your wall in 1953.

And now XBox is building on predictions made by authors like Tad Williams, and Phillip K. Dick with it latest generation console. It makes the interactivity of the Wii look a little like Pong. The possibilities for future applications are exciting, and a little scary. Either way, I think I am going to want one.

Take a look.