Misused: I Want My Jetpack

This came up in a discussion on the Regarding the Trivia Namespace thread.

Fighteer (rightfully) brought it up that it's Trivia as defined; its definition is that works set in the future have technology past what we actually got when that year rolled around. Like Fighteer said, there's no way for the writers of the work to know that stuff. Basically the opposite of Technology Marches On.

However, it's use is almost invariably "man, I want flying cars/jetpack/hoverboard," which certainly wouldn't be Trivia. Look at the examples on the page. Almost every example has nothing to do with Speculative Fiction or works that are set in the future, they're simply people lamenting that we don't have jetpacks yet as a stock gag. The closest the description comes to describing that is a character saying something to that effect after being transported to the future from the past.

It seems like we've got two tropes, one for people lamenting the lack of advanced technology, and another Trivia item where a work inaccurately portrays the future.

If it is split, I Want My Jetpack should probably be the "Weren't we supposed to have jetpacks by now?" trope, and the trivia item should have the new name.

edited 20th Mar '14 1:55:28 PM by Larkmarn

Bump

I believe that we should crush the subjective uses of the trope and make it about "we don't have this cool thing when the work said we would". Thus making it Trivia.

The most common use of this isn't subjective, it's characters actively lamenting how far behind in technology (for example, the page quote).

Any ideas on potential names for the Trivia trope?

Maybe Technology Failed To March?

edited 16th Apr '14 6:56:24 AM by Larkmarn

... bump.

In the Trivia namespace thread, I Want My Jetpack currently has enough votes to be moved to Trivia.

The problem is it's not a trivia trope as used now (though it is as defined), so I'd like to get some feedback so we can figure this out.

edited 2nd May '14 6:21:48 AM by Larkmarn

Clock is set.

So if nothing winds up happening, would we delete... well, the majority of the examples as they're misuse?

edited 2nd Jun '14 11:59:24 AM by Larkmarn

I would be quite in favor of redefining the trope to be strictly about In-Universe comments on the non-existence (or non-abundance) of expected technological developments — in fact, the example I just added was because I thought that was the definition.

Changing the title to something better descriptive of the broadness of the trope — like Technology Failed To March or Where Are Our Jetpacks — might help, but I don't know if it's necessary.