I've seen the future and it will be
I've seen the future and it works
And if there's life after, we will see
Don't go out like a jerk
The Future - Prince
I remember when I was a kid, the concept of the "future" was always a far-out, groovy and slick world where people lived in a Jetson's-like utopia of automation and technological omnipotence.
We'd all live in glass domes and hover around with our personal jet packs. For longer trips we'd jump into our flying bubble cars and visit grandma after we'd just chatted with her on our videophone. Once there, she'd regale us with almost forgotten stories of how, back in the old days, people used to actually have to work.
Well it never happened.
I waited, but the future never came.
So I got to wonderin'...what really has happened to some of those amazing technologies we were promised? After a few quick searches using a "futuristic" technology we hadn't even dreamed of back then (namely the Internet and Google), I found a few of them and the state of their current progress...or lack thereof.
Domed Cities
My buddy Buckminster Fuller summed the pros and cons up well in an essay postulating the possibility of domed cities and what he says in the following quote is likely the case...unless the world sees some precursor that has benefitted the inhabitants and can emulate it, it will instead only actually happen if there is a crisis which requires it.
There are persuasive arguments in favor of cities under single umbrella shells. Whether the economic advantages can overcome the antievolutionary inertias of large social bodies is, however, questionable. When whole new human settlements are to be installed on virgin sites as, for instance, on the Antarctic continent, the doming-over may be realized. The doming-over of established cities in moderate climate will probably not occur until domed-over cities in virgin lands have proved successful enough to persuade the established cities to employ comprehensive umbrellaing. The established cities will probably not adopt the doming until environmental and other emergencies make it imperative.
Jet Packs
Other than the occasional daredevil stunt, this thing never really ever blasted off.
Though, according to Wikipedia, there's at least one maverick DIYer who made his own:
America's only "private rocketeer", Gerard Martowlis, built a fully operational rocket pack. Like all flying packs, his is extraordinarily difficult and extremely dangerous to fly, taking many hours to learn and practice. He performed his recent test flights using a safety tether system in case he lost control. A consequence of the short flight time of any peroxide-based pack is that the entire flight is below the minimum parachute altitude. Accordingly, any loss of control or failure of the pack is most likely fatal. The training also incurs expensive fuel costs.
Hover Cars
Here's one that was in production recently. Maybe GM or Chrysler should think about selling these to help themselves out a bit, eh?
M200G Volantor, a small airborne, two passenger, saucer-shaped vehicle that is designed to take off and land vertically." Flying an estimated 10 feet off the ground, which allows it to avoid regulation by the FAA, the M200G takes to the air with the help of eight Rotapower rotary engines. The car is designed to hold up to 250 pounds, including the driver and any cargo.
250 pounds...I guess I won't be riding in one.
Video Phones
Well with Skype, video conference-enabled cell phones and some of the dedicated units coming out, I guess this one's already here. Yet not quite as ubiquitous as we thought they would be. This excerpt, again from Wikipedia suggests why:
Early AT&T Picturephones had few users, in part because the service was relatively expensive, approximately US$90 per month in 1974. However as modern technology reduced the costs to nominal, videophone calling continued to be marginally used. This contrasts to the unanimous certainty of pundits through many decades that videophones would be an obvious, highly sought-after technology. One reason may be that even today videophone calling is a poor analog for face-to-face conversation. Video cellphone users commonly look at the video screen and not at the video camera, causing the eyes to take on an unnatural downward glance, as the camera is usually just positioned above the screen on almost all videocall enabled cellphones. Some argue that this effect is easily countered by holding the cellphone slightly further away when videocalling. Another reason may be that people actually desire less fidelity in their communication, as evidenced by the popularity of written conversation (i.e. texting and instant messaging).
I've seen the future and it works
And if there's life after, we will see
Don't go out like a jerk
The Future - Prince
I remember when I was a kid, the concept of the "future" was always a far-out, groovy and slick world where people lived in a Jetson's-like utopia of automation and technological omnipotence.
We'd all live in glass domes and hover around with our personal jet packs. For longer trips we'd jump into our flying bubble cars and visit grandma after we'd just chatted with her on our videophone. Once there, she'd regale us with almost forgotten stories of how, back in the old days, people used to actually have to work.
Well it never happened.
I waited, but the future never came.
So I got to wonderin'...what really has happened to some of those amazing technologies we were promised? After a few quick searches using a "futuristic" technology we hadn't even dreamed of back then (namely the Internet and Google), I found a few of them and the state of their current progress...or lack thereof.
Domed Cities
My buddy Buckminster Fuller summed the pros and cons up well in an essay postulating the possibility of domed cities and what he says in the following quote is likely the case...unless the world sees some precursor that has benefitted the inhabitants and can emulate it, it will instead only actually happen if there is a crisis which requires it.There are persuasive arguments in favor of cities under single umbrella shells. Whether the economic advantages can overcome the antievolutionary inertias of large social bodies is, however, questionable. When whole new human settlements are to be installed on virgin sites as, for instance, on the Antarctic continent, the doming-over may be realized. The doming-over of established cities in moderate climate will probably not occur until domed-over cities in virgin lands have proved successful enough to persuade the established cities to employ comprehensive umbrellaing. The established cities will probably not adopt the doming until environmental and other emergencies make it imperative.
Jet Packs
Other than the occasional daredevil stunt, this thing never really ever blasted off.Though, according to Wikipedia, there's at least one maverick DIYer who made his own:
America's only "private rocketeer", Gerard Martowlis, built a fully operational rocket pack. Like all flying packs, his is extraordinarily difficult and extremely dangerous to fly, taking many hours to learn and practice. He performed his recent test flights using a safety tether system in case he lost control. A consequence of the short flight time of any peroxide-based pack is that the entire flight is below the minimum parachute altitude. Accordingly, any loss of control or failure of the pack is most likely fatal. The training also incurs expensive fuel costs.
Hover Cars
Here's one that was in production recently. Maybe GM or Chrysler should think about selling these to help themselves out a bit, eh?M200G Volantor, a small airborne, two passenger, saucer-shaped vehicle that is designed to take off and land vertically." Flying an estimated 10 feet off the ground, which allows it to avoid regulation by the FAA, the M200G takes to the air with the help of eight Rotapower rotary engines. The car is designed to hold up to 250 pounds, including the driver and any cargo.
250 pounds...I guess I won't be riding in one.
Video Phones
Well with Skype, video conference-enabled cell phones and some of the dedicated units coming out, I guess this one's already here. Yet not quite as ubiquitous as we thought they would be. This excerpt, again from Wikipedia suggests why:Early AT&T Picturephones had few users, in part because the service was relatively expensive, approximately US$90 per month in 1974. However as modern technology reduced the costs to nominal, videophone calling continued to be marginally used. This contrasts to the unanimous certainty of pundits through many decades that videophones would be an obvious, highly sought-after technology. One reason may be that even today videophone calling is a poor analog for face-to-face conversation. Video cellphone users commonly look at the video screen and not at the video camera, causing the eyes to take on an unnatural downward glance, as the camera is usually just positioned above the screen on almost all videocall enabled cellphones. Some argue that this effect is easily countered by holding the cellphone slightly further away when videocalling. Another reason may be that people actually desire less fidelity in their communication, as evidenced by the popularity of written conversation (i.e. texting and instant messaging).