The 2000s, when all of these things slowly were phased out, were a hard time, making me feel old for the first time. Sure, we got the Internet, we got vertically-landing rocket boosters, we got huge improvements in medical procedures ... but they all look so ... non-futuristic.
But futurism has itself taken a massive knock. The 80s was the era of popular realization of the downsides of technology (Chernobyl, Bhopal, phaseout of CFC and tetraethyl lead, global warming, environmental issues generally) and the 2000s the era of realizing that progress is not a ratchet and the simplistic view of bombing countries into democracy wasn't going to work.
You can't present people with an unalloyed utopia and expect them to believe in it. People will ask the same questions of technology as were asked of Concorde - cost and safety - but be far less impressed with the raw concept of highspeed travel.
That is, people have realised that you can't treat "technology" as some kind of standalone magic that would, of itself, deliver a better society. People themselves will not be remade in technology's image.
That's a rather poetic statement. Is that a common expression?
The idea of technology making or remaking man rather than the other way round is definitely part of Futurism, Modernism and to some extent Bolshevism. I'd suggest reading Bruno Latour on the subject, especially "Aramis, or the Love of Technology".
We are living in a second golden age of aerospace innovation.
Fun fact: the Falcon 9 cannot throttle its engines low enough to hover. That means it lands at >1g, cutting thrust the moment it touches the pad to avoid taking off again.
-Jeremy Clarkson
For me, Hong Kong and especially its skyline was much more futuristic and fascinating. If you've never been there, go for it!
I also feel it's like the M&M test for quality and culture of a company or nation.
(in Montreal they also believe that heir trains are super smooth and quiet because of the rubber wheels, compared to steel train. I can not explain this belief.)
The experience of going so fast so close to the ground is quite maginficent. I was wondering why the cars 'stop' on the nearby motorway.
The German Wikipedia says that there are two 45 minute slots a day, but not when exactly. Maybe their web site tells it? I could find the information after a cursory look.
Working from home with people thousands of km away, talking to them, looking at them in the eye.
Working, pairing with other people, while in flight between cities.
Walking around with a phone in my pocket, people can call me wherever I am.
Looking things up from different sources quickly while talking at the dinner table (use to be single source dictionary + a trip to the library later).
At work, an my kids working together collaboratively on a document.
I often wonder what kids can dream of, today, given all of this happened. The only parts of my dreams which haven't yield are AI and infinite energy.
I'm pretty satisfied with the future we live in. But the global warming is coming too fast.
Holodeck-type VR, I'm guessing.
we all get what you mean, it's great and whatnot, but this specific case you describe are new-age idiots - constantly checking cell phones, while sitting with each other, just because there is 'something important'... no, there isn't
That's still an open research field right now.
There's currently research going on to find out if there is any way to make eye contact possible, but I don't know of any proposed way so far.