Why don't we have jetpacks and flying cars? (1950's, economic, Chinese)
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I think the world predicted in 1968's "2001 A Space Odyssey" would have been possible if the USA had maintained its production based economy. What happened instead was a vast expansion of the welfare state, conversion from a production based economy to a consumer economy, and the export of the American industrial base to the 3rd world. It's now in its final phase where vast numbers of engineers, scientists, and other technical people are now getting laid off.
If your commute is 20 miles or closer, this baby will get you there in about half an hour.
Personally, I can't wait. I hate sitting in traffic jams. Would much rather soar through the air, straight as the crow flies.
Of course, like everything else, once the price comes down and the riffraff get them, you'll have all sorts of annoyances like people dropping litter on you from on high.
Running out of fuel will take on a whole new kind of meaning, too. I guess sales of parachutes will really take off, as will the roof-hardening business.
To expand further on the question: in the 1950s people have expected life in the year 2000 would be full of flying cars, jetpacks, moon vacations, high speed trains, virtual reality, holograms, food pills, etc. What happened? These things never came out. I'm sure if a time traveler from the early 50s were to wake up in the 2000s or 2010s he would be hugely disappointed. Life today doesn't seem that much different from 1950s but what has changed?
Nothing happened - it's simply hard to predict the future with any degree of accuracy a decade or two out, much less 50-60 years out.
Do you really think the 1950s looked much like what was imagined in the 1890s?
To expand further on the question: in the 1950s people have expected life in the year 2000 would be full of flying cars, jetpacks, moon vacations, high speed trains, virtual reality, holograms, food pills, etc. What happened? These things never came out. I'm sure if a time traveler from the early 50s were to wake up in the 2000s or 2010s he would be hugely disappointed. Life today doesn't seem that much different from 1950s but what has changed?
Because science-fiction doesn't necessarily become reality, and much of the technology in existence today, wasn't even dreamed of in the 1950s.
Flying cars, if technologically possible, might not be a good idea. Think of them crashing into each other and falling on peoples homes. Jetpacks existed in the 1950s and they exist today, and they are an incredibly dangerous technology. Highly unlikely they will ever be a safe or practical form of transportation. Moon vacations are limited only by finances and lack of interest. If you want to go to the moon, build yourself a rocket and go. Nothing stopping you. High speed trains are all over Asia and Europe. They exist. If the time traveler lands in Japan, he would have no problem seeing high speed trains. Holograms are still in development. Food pills probably wouldn't be the healthiest thing, but you could probably find pills to live off of if you really wanted to.
The 1950s was very different. Not just from a technological perspective but from a cultural perspective.
While a 1950s person could probably accept the latest technological development, after all they already expected that the future would hold amazing technology and would be able to adapt quickly, the average 1950s person would be mind-boggled at the ease of racial and gender relationships today. Many wouldn't be able to accept it. A black man as President? Female senators and governors? The portrayal of young women in skimpy, nearly non-existent clothing? (it was fine for porn magazines in those days but not for general media or walking down the public street). Gay rights? Forget it.
There were female senators and governors even before the 1950s. So that wouldn't surprise a 1950s person. A black president, might surprise some, but not all. Any good visionary in the 1950s would have seen that it was just a matter of time, before there would be a black president. Women were already wearing skimpy clothing in the 1950s and even before. There would be no surprise there. I would agree with you on gay rights. That is kind of surprising. But I think most of that is thanks to backlash to the religious right, who made it an issue. It would have been hard to see that coming.
Eh. Except for internet I'm not seeing anything that drastically changed our culture the past 50+ years.
Oh come on. You must be awfully young. People carrying mobile phones with them 24/7 is about as drastic a change as you can have. People in the 1950s were impressed with their big black newfangled phones that they could actually dial themselves. Being in constant communication and being able to call who ever you want, from where ever you want, with just the push of one button is beyond a drastic change. It's earth shattering. Same for most of the other things on the list.
LOL, those wings might be kind of a problem, when you try to land on the freeway in the middle of rush hour. It kind of reminds me of another interesting dead-end technology. The amphibious cars of the 1960s..
LOL, those wings might be kind of a problem, when you try to land on the freeway in the middle of rush hour. It kind of reminds me of another interesting dead-end technology. The amphibious cars of the 1960s..
I knew a guy who had a boat car. That thing was cool. And unstable. And slow. But cool.
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