What is retrofuturism? The future as seen from the past? The past as seen from the future? Or perhaps just nostalgia for a time when innovation was looked on with romance and optimism. In nearly every aspect, the world today is a better than at any other time in human history. And our future? Our future is in the hands of today’s youth …The Retrofuturist Chronicles center on a 12-year-old girl named Miranda who is affable and bright but disempowered because of her age. Each episode begins with Miranda expressing concerns about something in her life.In turn, those concerns always remind Miranda’s kind-of-crazy retrofuturist spinster Aunt Natalie of some extraordinary absurdist exploit that she’s had. Aunt Natalie’s tall tales are never constrained by time, place, logic, or even laws of physics. She often invokes historic people and incidents and makes outrageous claims. But she inspires Miranda with fantastic tales of past innovations that have just enough truth in them to be intriguing and uplifting...
https://www.inspirethefuture.com/Retrofuturist-Chronicles
episode 9: Pranks a Lot
Key Links
- Get inspired. Check out more about the future for the telecommunications industry at www.inspirethefuture.com/telecommunications.
Miranda decides to play a small prank on Aunt Natalie, and fortunately her aunt has a great sense of humor about it. However, Aunt Natalie takes the opportunity to advise her young niece about the distinction between constructive and destructive behavior by relating a story about an innocent prank phone call that went terribly wrong.
It seems that the mayor of Grappen, Netherlands received a call from someone claiming to be the esteemed microbiologist, Dr. Johannes De Nep. He informed the mayor that their entire water system was infected with a dangerous chemical called “dihydrogen monoxide,” a colorless - odorless chemical that’s associated with many known toxic substances, including fertilizers, pesticides, and industrial solvents. It’s highly regulated internationally and continues to be a cause of many environmental disasters. It’s been used in the production of pharmaceuticals, plastics, and adhesives, and has extensive military applications. It’s also popular among substance abusers. Altogether, it contributes to millions of dollars in property damage and thousands of deaths each year.
The town acted quickly but shutting down the water supply kicked off a chain reaction with dire consequences. And the prankster got fourteen years in jail and had to pay for the entire cleanup.
The episode concludes with SAP executives discussing how the ability to deliver compelling services and unique customer experiences while protecting privacy and ensuring security is key for the telecommunications industry.
Produced by SAP.
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New season coming early 2021!