Historical predictions offered up in a new book, "In Praise of Slowness" by Carl Honore (courtesy of Worthwhilemag.com):

• Benjamin Franklin predicted that the technological advances of the late 1700s would lead to four-hour work weeks.
• In the late 1800s, George Bernard Shaw predicted that we would work two hours a day by the year 2000.
• In 1956, Richard Nixon foresaw a four-day work week in the "not too distant future."
• In the mid-1960s, a U.S. Senate subcommittee heard a prediction that by 2000, Americans would be working about 14 hours a week.

And you'd think people would stop listening to such hype after all these years. "Two hour workdays"? Please . . .