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The first futurists:
The Delphic Oracle, 800 BC – 300 AD
Drug induced soothsaying backed up by political nowse.

Roger Bacon, circa 1,000 AD
Predicted flying machines and created a mirror in which you could see what people were doing in any part of the world

Karl Marx: ‘The Proletariat have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.’ Communist Manifesto 1848

HG Wells, The Time Machine 1895
1931 proposed a world encyclopaedia that would ‘keep the thought of the world in a perpetual lively interchange’.

The worst futurist:
In 1937, John Langdon-Davies predicted the end of democracy by 1950, the working day reduced to 3 hours by 1960 and, by 2000, Britain having a population one tenth its size and no crime whatsoever!!


You too can see into the future. What do you need to make an accurate time machine?

T rends – look out for future ones
A nalysis – of their impact on your market sector
R eview – how will this effect your business?
D esign – great new products in the light of review
I nnovation – be sure to be original
S pecialists – you need the right experts to keep on track



Time Travel isn’t impossible. Look at the stars and see into the past. Move faster than light and see the future. Small businesses need to look far and move fast

Middle ages: nothing changed – each generation the same.
Industrial Revolution: notion of progress and prophesies of doom.
Sixties: Sci-fi obsession with the ‘space age’.
Now: awareness of finite resources; no escape to the stars
But: potential for sustainable abundance, playfulness and creative connectivity in the digital age?

Why be a futurist?
• At a global level to ensure our survival as a race,
• and for small companies such as yours to ensure you have the competitive edge and innovative ideas to stay ahead of the pack and survive and thrive in the retail sector.


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