I note that (the Brothers) Some are speculating that 2005 now exists as the Dubs' next "final" date to work towards. At this point in time, I can't see it being an effective carrot for attracting people outside the Witnesses. Basically, things are too good.
1975 probably looked like a great date for the end, because so much had gone wrong in the early 70s; the post WWII "Long (economic) Boom" came to a screeching halt, the first of the "oil shocks" occurred, the US was losing the Vietnam War and looked like it could lose the Cold War with the USSR.
Interestingly, while the JWs were getting off on bad events in the world at large, so were certain elements of mainstream "Christendom". Hal Lindsey's book "The Late Great Planet Earth", about the imminence of the Second Advent, was released in 1973 and took the Evangelical world by storm. Lindsey didn't say anything particularly new or profound, it's just that his timing was impeccable. 1973 was a particularly good year for saying "The End is Nigh", as many who were JWs in 1973 will no doubt attest.
Fast forward to now; although things are slowing down economically and the US and China are none too friendly of late, 2005 just doesn't look likely as an end date (not if you want unsettling "signs" to accompany the end, that is). More people are living better, longer and healthier than they ever have. Of course, if there's a really deep global recession and a shooting war between the Taiwan and China in the next few years, then the temptation to make 2005 the new improved end date, in the name of recruitment, might be too much temptation for the GB to resist.