Without going into detail about where I was or what I was doing at the time, suffice it to say that last week I saw a real flying car. The future is here, people, and it is lame.
I don't know about you, but I kind of assumed that the reason my childhood dream of flying cars hasn't happened yet is because science hasn't yet made it possible. But actually lots of cool things that are technically possible will never happen for other reasons.
Take the flying car. One of these people told me that soon I'll be able to buy one of these. Awesome, I say! Then I asked for details:
- How much does it cost? Well, the cost will be about as much as the same Cessna 172 airplane that they've been making since the 1950s: hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- What's the fuel economy like? About the same as a typical private plane, like a Cessna.
- But what about flying and driving! Can't I drive it and then fly it? Of course! You can fly it at any FAA-approved airport, using the skills you developed with the complete pilot's license you have to have. Just like a Cessna.
So in summary, if you haven't already bought a Cessna 172, don't assume you're any more likely to get a flying car. Even if costs could be brought down, the FAA is never going to let this thing be as common-place a way to get around as cars are today. (And really they shouldn't anyway--- if people are as bad at flying as they are at driving, then flying cars will be killing a whole lot of people.)
And there's tons more stuff with this problem:
- jet packs will have the same problem with training and safety.
-
World-wide wireless networks could be 2 or 10 times better if the companies that ran them cared as much about improving coverage as they do about competing with each other.
-
We could easily have trains in every city and across the country if people would spend as much on trains as they did on cars, parking, insurance, and gas.
-
Smart appliances and smart homes could have been a reality 30 years ago if companies and people had agreed on some standards instead of fighting with each other for control and money.
-
Cashless, secure, world-wide payment systems could easily be created if only banks cared as much about technology as they do about tricking you into paying credit fees.
So the real reason we're not getting our jet packs is that even though science has improved, we still haven't.
|