Thursday, August 14, 2008

Can't sleep- future will eat me.

Okay, first of all, a rant about George Jetson's car. You know what the coolest aspect of that car was? No, not that it flies. We don't have flying cars yet, but we do have airplanes, and frankly, that's good enough for now. I'm not saying we shouldn't have them; I'm just saying it's not what made the Jetsonmobile so badass.

Power source? Guess again. If you're looking for a really slick power source, you've got to go warp drive. Old GJ probably has a run-of-the-mill nuclear reactor under the hood.

No, what always amazed me about George Jetson's personal transport was that it folds up into a briefcase, which can then be lifted by a middle-aged professional button pusher. Think of it: A vehicle so lightweight, it can be lifted by a human being, yet powerful enough to transport said human being through the air. Whatever fuel that uses, it's gotta be getting great miles per joule. And think of how nice folding is! No worries about whether your car is getting broken into- just look under your desk and check for yourself!

I apologize if I'm repeating myself here, but there is something about the future that I'm looking forward to with less enthusiasm. Apparently, Boeing has gone and built itself a nasty little machine. Okay, maybe not so little, but it's still enough to scare the willies out of me. I saw the opening scene to "Real Genius". I know what's the what.

I'm a greedy, greedy man, and my eye is always a bit green for hints that science fiction loses that pesky "fiction" moniker. But c'mon, couldn't we work more toward the kinds of medical advances everybody loves on Star Trek? Or how about the materializer- who doesn't like a super-cheap source of food for anyone who wants to eat?

*Sigh* At least the cloaking device is coming along nicely. And hey- the holodeck can't be too far behind, can it? (Or at the very least, we now have some furniture to put in there.)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home