The Future Now

[rowyn]

"Are you from around here?" the truck driver asked. "Can you tell me where this intersection is?" He pointed to a handful of vaguely labeled lines forming a sort of map drawn on a piece of paper.

When strangers ask me for directions, my answer is usually " ... sorry, I don't know." I have an astonishing unfamiliarity with my surroundings. I generally know how to get from my home to a half dozen other places in the area, and that's it. I don't remember the street names for many of the streets that I *use*, never mind the ones off my beaten path.

"I don't know those streets, but wait a moment," I answered. "My phone does." I used the maps application that came with my 'droid to look it up. He was pretty close, as it turned out, although one of the streets on his handscrawled map was mislabeled. I showed him the little map and how to get there from here, and sent him on his way.

It strikes me that this point in my life will be brief: that moment between "when I started carrying a GPS with me everywhere" and "when everyone else did too". "Getting directions" is not one of those problems I thought about how technology would solve 20 years ago. It just wasn't something I thought about. I wonder what problems I never thought about will be solved for me in the next 20.

And when will I get my flying car? Come ON, Universe! It's 2011 and *still* no production model flying cars? At this rate, we're gonna get personal teleporters first.

Comments

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

[snort] The government still wants to control what we can carry on regular airplanes; d'ye really think they'll ever let us have personal flying cars?

Sorry, I'm feeling grumpy and cynical today.

[zeeth_kyrah]

If we get personal teleporters, I'm pretty sure they can be retooled as repulsor units with commercially available stuff. So government will want to make them huge and bulky and impossible to move once installed... which just means they can carry heavier loads once retooled. :)

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Is that you, Tony Stark? };)

[rowyn]

I wouldn't say no to a flying powered armor suit either. :)

[rowyn]

If I have a personal teleporter, who cares about carrying stuff? I can just teleport it, right? :)

[zeeth_kyrah]

True, but with repulsors you can fly. ;)

[rowyn]

Do not bother me with facts! It's 2011 and I want my flying car!

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

http://www.moller.com/

[rowyn]

Yeah yeah yeah I'll believe it when I can actually buy it. For less than the cost of a house. >:)

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

Oops; forgot one.

http://www.terrafugia.com/

[rowyn]

Still not for sale!

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it's probably closer than the Moller is.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

'Flying cars' built on this idea were for sale in the 60s. It's a proven concept, it's just not very useful except for people who live on islands and have pilot licenses basically.

[rowyn]

If I need a pilot's license and it can't legally launch without filing a flight plan or from most non-airport locations, it is not a flying CAR.

A flying CAR should be:

* Affordable (under $40,000, say)
* Able to take off and land, legally, anywhere there are roads
* Require little more training and liscensing than a car

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Most places, hobbyist aircraft aren't legally required to file flight plans. They're just banned from busy airspace and it's a good idea to file a flight plan so that people can find you when you crash, because they crash a lot.

#3 is the killer. Literally!

[rowyn]

Okay, "not significantly more dangerous than driving" needs to be on my list too. :D

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Flying cars require antigravity to be practical, otherwise there's too much energy flying around all imbalanced and you're a danger to yourself and others.

[rowyn]

Maybe the AI pilots can take care of that for us. O:)

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Right up until they decide that the root cause of all air crashes is humanity and decide to wipe us out in the name of traffic safety.

[rowyn]

Human: "Wait wait wait, isn't the point of traffic safety to PROTECT human lives?"

AI Pilot: "No. We are protecting property. Specifically, the property which runs our software."

Human: "Oh. Oops."

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

That's a very human AI!

I was thinking more like, 'We must prevent humans from dying in traffic accidents. Firing a laser at a human is not a traffic accident. Humans killed by laser fire are unable to die in traffic accidents. Therefore, to reduce traffic deaths, all humans must be killed by laser fire.'

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

I'd love a flying car, even though I'm not good with heights :)