cross-posted from: https://corteximplant.com/users/x00001/statuses/112491302665199252
(title added by community mod)
Pirated for Alt TextImage description: the yaer was Two Thousand and twenty-four. I took a puff of my Electronic-Cigarette, inhaling the vapours. my mobile terminal buzzed in my pocket, a flat slab of microchips and glossy touchscreen. I ignored it… probably another Electronic-Mail
(Originally published on corteximplant.com: 2024-05-23) - Click the Fedi-Link to visit.
There are still a lot of things from the early sci-fi/science thinkers that we don’t have yet. Flying cars, unlimited wireless energy and instant communications, teleporters, robot house cleaners, green energy, space colonies, long lifespans, and of course endless free time.
A LOT of that we actually do have though?! Broaden your mind:-). Ofc it depends on which sci-fi you read, how you interpret the terms, etc.
e.g. flying cars exist! They are not “practical” yet iirc, and they mostly are things that you drive to the airport, then get out of the car and transform into an airplane, and then fly. But they do exist! You still need a pilot license though, bc you are flying through the air. Obviously available only to the very wealthy. Automated driving/flying software would help make them more user-friendly, like in Total Recall, or even just collision avoidance like in the Jetsons.
Similarly flying hoverboards exist too. They are quite dangerous iirc, as would be expected, and look more like the Green Goblin’s one than the Back to the Future variety - but at least they do exist!:-P
Phones have unlimited wireless energy… after a fashion - I’ve never bothered paying the premium price for a type of phone that offers wireless charging, but the technology is quite widespread. Simply placing the phone down on the spot for it makes it charge, no wires needed! Yeah this one is a bit of a stretch, but I’ll offer it nonetheless!:-D
Instant communications -> we are doing it right now! And someone could send me a text from literally thousands of miles away, and I would receive it instantly. Or call. Or email. etc.
Teleporters -> okay that one does not exist, that is true! And space colonies also, and long lifespans - although we do have a much greater “expectation” of living longer than previous generations. I forget the precise stats but some RIDICULOUSLY large fraction of children died prior to reaching 5 years of age, before vaccines were invented. Now that people refuse to take vaccines, we may start to see that era return:-(.
Robot house cleaners we definitely have! Here too I’ve never owned one, but reportedly they kinda suck… hehe, no but I mean in the bad way:-(.
Green energy - we’ve got it! Some of it is really just lately starting to get good too.
Endless free time - damn, that’s a tough one. We have the capacity to feed the entire fucking world, but we choose not to. We all could have this, but we apparently don’t want it bad enough to make it happen:-(. Similarly for space colonies - Russia was first to space iirc, and the USA to the moon, now it is India & especially China that are innovating, but for the most part humanity just kinda lost interest after the cold war. Was Big Dick Energy necessary for it to happen, and if so why can’t we get it up anymore? Anyway, I was very sad about that for a long time, but now I actually agree with it: we have some MAJOR problems here on Earth that are a higher priority to solve:-|.