Why don't we have World's Fairs anymore?

It seems like a cool way to show off all the latest techonology, but I'm guessing that the idea died with the end of the Cold War. Anyone else wish that the World's Fair was still a yearly thing?

 

[loup garou]

I wish it was. I still have fond memories of the 84 World's Fair in New Orleans.

 

[mugs]

Seems to me that in the "information age," there's no need for an annual event to show off the latest and greatest.

Edit: It would be cool though

 

[loup garou]

BTW, they still have them!

http://expomuseum.com/future/

 

[knivox]

Originally posted by: werk
BTW, they still have them!

http://expomuseum.com/future/

interesting... it looks like the only potential US fairs are Phoenix (2008), NYC (2012), and San Francisco (2015)

I went to the one in Vancouver in 86 when I was a kid, and remember it being the coolest thing ever.

 

[burnedout]

I attended the World's Fair in '82 - Knoxville, TN. Really cool. The Sunsphere, which symbolized the event, is still there.

 

[slick230]

Originally posted by: burnedout
I attended the World's Fair in '82 - Knoxville, TN. Really cool. The Sunsphere, which symbolized the event, is still there.

The Sunsphere is full of wigs now.

 

[dfox227]

I attended the world fair in Monteal in 1967. It was one of the coolest things I remember as a child.

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/expo67/map-docs/expo67-mainmap.htm

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: slick230

Originally posted by: burnedout
I attended the World's Fair in '82 - Knoxville, TN. Really cool. The Sunsphere, which symbolized the event, is still there.

The Sunsphere is full of wigs now.

LOL, really? I thought it was converted to a museum?

 

[jhu]

i thought the sunsphere was knocked down by a bunch of punk kids

 

[brigden]

Originally posted by: slick230

Originally posted by: burnedout
I attended the World's Fair in '82 - Knoxville, TN. Really cool. The Sunsphere, which symbolized the event, is still there.

The Sunsphere is full of wigs now.

Didn't it fall on Bart's rental?

 

[Wag]

Because the world ain't fair?

Yep, Bart knocked it down.

 

[burnedout]

Heh, forgot about the Simpsons. Joke's on me.

 

[RIGorous1]

not world's fair ... its wo__d's f_ir!

 

[WinkOsmosis]

We don't need world fairs. We have the INTERNET now.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: brigden

Originally posted by: slick230

Originally posted by: burnedout
I attended the World's Fair in '82 - Knoxville, TN. Really cool. The Sunsphere, which symbolized the event, is still there.

The Sunsphere is full of wigs now.

Didn't it fall on Bart's rental?

I was in Knoxville in 1992 for some high school event, and it was near the Sunsphere/World's Fair site. I thought the Simpsons episode captured the atmosphere and mood of the place pretty accurately.

 

[Voip]

I think it would be pretty cool if we still had them.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: werk
I wish it was. I still have fond memories of the 84 World's Fair in New Orleans.

I went to that one

Really about the only thing I remember about NO. I remember the space shuttle they had parked along the edge of river and all the funky floats that they had there on display from Mardi Gras. Oh...and they had a talking robot that looked like the one from the original Lost in Space.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: werk
I wish it was. I still have fond memories of the 84 World's Fair in New Orleans.

I went to that one

Really about the only thing I remember about NO. I remember the space shuttle they had parked along the edge of river and all the funky floats that they had there on display from Mardi Gras. Oh...and they had a talking robot that looked like the one from the original Lost in Space.

Awesome! Really, all I remember is the Wonderwall, the Kid Wash and the scary, scary gondola ride over the Mississippi.

 

[vi edit]

Heh. I remember the gondola's. My Dad wouldn't go because he wasn't exactly thrilled to go on them with me

 

[jhu]

i thought nelson knocked it down

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Heh. I remember the gondola's. My Dad wouldn't go because he wasn't exactly thrilled to go on them with me

Be glad you didn't. I still have nightmares about it. Those cars were tiny and they bobbed up and down and swayed with the wind all the way across the river. That wasn't so bad until I turned around to talk to my mother on the other side (two people faced forward and two faced back) and saw that the area between the seats was entirely open. You couldn't have squeezed past the seat to fall through the hole, but it was still a big gaping hole underneath me 100ft up in the air over the Mississippi. I wouldn't ride it back across the river, but luckily since so many people were scared to ride it back, they actually had set up a shuttle service back to the East bank so my family took that back.

 

[Zorba]

I wish they were still around, I never got to go to one as a kid

 

[kenshorin]

Originally posted by: jhu
i thought nelson knocked it down

You are correct.

 

[Yzzim]

would a World's Fair be the same thing as Comdex or E3? Show off the latest technology gadgets?