Film made in 1967 accurately predicts the Future

[GT98]

Pretty impressive...and not a fake!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rpq5ZmANp0k

[Evildead666]

I'm not sure those screens were real, but the concept was solid even then...
Just shows how much 40 years can do, and i'd like to see what we are like in another 40 years..?

Great clip

[FatBastard]

Just shows how much 40 years can do,

My mom says in 40 years nothing happened.
when I ask her what does she mean, she says, that when she was in elementary school her teacher promised her she'll have a flying car by the year 2000. till she gets one, its all hot air for her.

and i'd like to see what we are like in another 40 years..?

The only thing you need to know is that we will probably be erection less

[VJ]

My mom says in 40 years nothing happened.
when I ask her what does she mean, she says, that when she was in elementary school her teacher promised her she'll have a flying car by the year 2000. till she gets one, its all hot air for her.

Actually, there was a flying car in the 1950's:

http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft%20performance/aerocar.htm

To date, if memory servers me right, it is still the only vehicle that is road legal and carries a standard FAA certification (thus like a Cessna 150, not a ULM, kit nor special certification).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6172226

5 were built, 3 are privately owned...


But yes, we are long overdue for a flying car!


Jörg

[Nowhere]

We're "long overdue" (yeah, not really) for autonomously driving cars...sort of prerequisite for flying ones.

[VJ]

We're "long overdue" (yeah, not really) for autonomously driving cars...sort of prerequisite for flying ones.

I don't entirely agree: flying autonomously is easier than driving: no pedestrians, more room to avoid other objects, less constraints (lanes, traffic lights, ...), most likely less modification to existing infrastructure, ....

Besides, even without being autonomous, a flying car could be useful for people with a pilot license: if you now fly somewhere, you are stuck at the airport (or have to make due with public transport/taxis/rentals).


Jörg

[Claymonkey]

What we have still amazes me... and yes I'd like a flying car.

however.... most people should NOT be allowed to drive a flying car. They are bad enough with regular cars. A mistake in a flying car asks for death. Statistic say we are all in at least one car accident in our life... even if its just a fender bender... imagine that same statistic with flying cars...

[VJ]

True... Most people don't pilot planes nowadays either...

[Fat Tone]

I think that is where Moeller is at now. The car can fly but it needs heavily automating...this car has been so long coming though I really hope he gets to see it go in to production.

[Gurm]

Honestly people who can't think in a non-linear manner can't even IMAGINE the next 40 years. It's a rare individual who could have comprehended the miniaturization and interconnection which have marked the last 10-15 years.

Cell phones came out in the 80's. Even then, nobody realized that in 20 years we would all carry a global information network in our pockets.

Right now I can get speeds in excess of dialup to my PocketPC... which can in turn do more (and runs 10x faster) than the computers I used in college! We were GEEKS, state-of-the-art with our 486's and our collaborative software that let us all chat in real-time, and our 28.8k connections to the campus PPP/SLIP cluster. Now you can have all of that and more in your pocket, for a couple hundred bucks. (And $20/mo. to T-Mobile et al.)

Who knows where we'll go? Futurists can make educated guesses, but I for one think that the actual direction things take will astound.

One thing that I know WILL change is medicine. Our lifespans stand to be greatly extended in the very near future. This will have a HUGE effect on society. Right now society is ENTIRELY geared towards our current growth/development/maturation/decay cycle. It is NOT geared for people who become productive members of society around age 35 instead of 25, and who can work productively for 70 years instead of 40... or more!

But I am heartened - most of the diseases that scare the CRAP out of me (alzheimer's, cancer, parkinson's) are on the verge of being beaten. By the time I'm old enough to worry about most of them, they won't be a worry. The problem THEN will be PAYING for your cure.

[KRSESQ]

The problem THEN will be PAYING for your cure.

Don't worry. Hillary has it all figured out.

Kevin

[Claymonkey]

Don't worry. Hillary has it all figured out.

Kevin

ewwwwww... you got politics in my nanotech and flying cars

[KRSESQ]

I'm just still waiting for my personal robot. Where's my robot, dammit?

Kevin

[Nowhere]

http://trilobite.electrolux.com/node217.asp ?

@VJ, I'm not sure...yes, easier in the air, but for it to be truly flying car it would need to be able to land virtually anywhere IMHO.

I think this should be done gradually...for example retrofitting autobanhs with "hints" for AI (and they'd be great landing strips for AI controlled flying vehicles ). Plus...I'm not sure wings/rotors are good fit here...but it's the only thing we have now and for forseable future... :|

[Claymonkey]

see you you can gradually update vacuum cleaner models... but a mass used flying car has to be 98% there from the first rollout. Even still I'd be willing to use one when 70% of people out there would kill themselves