"We eat in restaurants, buy branded toiletries, build
skyscrapers, create legislative institutions, travel in
flying machines, write poetry, and search for meaning in
relationships, temples, and scientific books. Humans have
discovered antibiotics, sent probes into space, decimated
rainforests, shared a billion views of clips of kitten
behaviour, and decoded their own genomes.
But there is one thing that humans have singularly failed
to do, and that is to properly understand their own behaviour. "
— Robert Aunger and Valerie Curtis:
Gaining Control: How human behavior evolved
The Thirties had seen the first generation of American
industrial designers; until the Thirties, all pencil
sharpeners had looked like pencil sharpeners; your basic
Victorian mechanism, perhaps with a curlicue of
decorative trim. After the advent of the designers, some
pencil sharpeners looked as though they'd been put
together in wind tunnels. For the most part, the change
was only skin-deep; under the streamlined chrome shell,
you'd find the same Victorian mechanism. Which made a
certain kind of sense, because the most successful
American designers had been recruited from the ranks of
Broadway theater designers. It was all a stage set, a
series of elaborate props for playing at living in the
future.
- William GibsonArtifical skylight: http://twistedsifter.com/2015/02/scientists-develop-artifici...
Self Driving Cars http://www.extremetech.com/tag/self-driving-cars
Hololens http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7868251/microsoft-hololens...
Wikipedia/Google - look up just about anything within seconds
Siri/speech interface multi lingual live translation
Commercial space projects - Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX
Self driving cars, Electric Cars, drones, etc... list is growing.
1. Spaceplane - this was a big thing a while back and is no longer talkeda bout. Military needs are what drove the technology for airliners, and there is no longer a need for aircraft crews. So they built missile-like X planes instead.
2. Ocean thermal energy conversion - Is a big tower that sits in the ocean and grabs energy from the differences in water temp. This was on the cover of one of those kid's future science books. It hasn't been built that I know of.
3. Robotic crop harvesting - I don't think these are here yet
4. Bipedal robots - I think we are almost there but again, there are more practical designs for military purposes.
5. Robotic surgery, tele-presence surgery - not sure if this is a thing yet.
There are demonstration units in existence, but other forms of energy are still too cheap for now.
> 3. Robotic crop harvesting - I don't think these are here yet
There are tech school programs for GPS controlled combines in the Midwest. Its been around for about 10 years.
> 4. Bipedal robots - I think we are almost there but again, there are more practical designs for military purposes.
Boston dynamics has this nailed down. Google acquired them last year, along with 9 other major robotics firms, and are slowly discontinuing certain military contracts if I understand correctly.
> 5. Robotic surgery, tele-presence surgery - not sure if this is a thing yet.
This already exists. In fact, there was a TED talk in 2013 regarding a telesurgical robot that gave haptic feedback with approximate pressures of that area. Can't recall the presenter's name.
"On shift on 5th and mission. A bus goes by with an ad: WHAT IF THE INTERNET WAS FOR YOU? Mobile phones everywhere. I read this on MY mobile phone: http://popehat.com/2013/12/06/nock-hoon-etc-for-non-vulcans-... All this while working as a contractor electronic valet. Feels like a Stephenson novel."
I can not have electronics with me at my workplace, so for 8 hours of the day I would not have it on me. Beyond that if I a home I have a computer and if I am out of the house I am actively doing something so I see no need for smartphones.
No electronics at your workplace? That's an interesting policy. Is it something to do with security, or they just want you to focus on work?
Here's why I love having a smartphone. It's changed the way I:
* take notes (Evernote) and make todo lists (Wunderlist)
* communicate with friends & family (WhatsApp, Messenger), and teammates (Slack)
* get directions (Google Maps, Maps.me)
* manage travel and accommodation (Uber, AirBnb)
* translate conversations and menus overseas (Google Translate, WordLens)
* learn new languages (DuoLingo)
* take photos and videos - which are automatically synced and backed up on iCloud
* secure my online services (Google Authenticator, LastPass)
* manage my finances on demand (online banking apps)
* track my health and fitness (MyFitnessPal and Moves)
Not to mention the fact that I'm currently working on my startup's smartphone app.
You don't get to talk to a human when you call a business - at least, not without great effort. You don't at the grocery store either - self checkout.
Daily life has dramatically de-humanized. Yeah, it feels like I live in the future, but I don't like this part of it.
I am living in the future ever since.