Corporations: An Appetite for the Future

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Thornton believes that atomic energy will be used to melt icecaps, explore space, turn the wheels of industry, and even change the weather so that citrus trees can grow in Central Park and the smog problem in Los Angeles can be solved. Newspapers and magazines will be transmitted by radio and either stored on tape or printed on receivers right in the living room. Pocket-sized communications devices will keep everyone in instant touch, and physical ailments will be diagnosed by computer and cured in many cases by replacing worn-out parts with factory-made ones. Money may be eliminated; customers will merely present their thumbs to an electronic scanner that will automatical ly deduct the purchase price from their distant bank accounts.

Many of these possibilities seem as far off as present technological advances did only a few years ago, but Litton is already working in many areas that could lead to them (the company is studying, for example, submarine cargo ships that could cruise serenely beneath the surface, ignoring the turbulent weather above). "These things are going to happen," says Roy Ash. "We have already crossed the technical boundary. It is only the economic boundary that has to be crossed. So it is no longer science fiction, but science fact and economic fiction."

"During the next ten years," adds Tex Thornton, "there should be more scientific and technological advancement than in all history—more than double that of the past 20 years." This means no letup for a company devoted to profiting by change. Litton's confident executives do not expect growth to level off until the company reaches at least $2 billion in sales—a point that could be reached within four years at the company's present growth rate, and that would rank it fifth among U.S. corporations. "There's really no place to stop," says Tex Thornton. "We will never reach our destination."

The onrush of technology has caught up thousands of people in its path and given man mastery over areas that he never dreamed of conquering. It has also created a few problems that never existed before, of course, but Tex Thornton and Litton Industries are confident that man will be able to solve them. Recently, for example, the automatic garbage-disposal unit in Thornton's home broke down. He called a repairman to fix the intricate device, but the man had no success. So Thornton did the job himself in a Thornton-like way. He gave the problem some thought, then simply got an empty Coke bottle and dropped it smack into the maw of the machine, which came to life immediately and chewed the bottle to bits.