Today I had fun reading the Back to the Future wiki. So yeah... while looking at the page for multichannel telly, I couldn't help but notice the targeted adverts for Virgin Media (a broadband TV service here in the uk). Hmmm, creepy! I'm looking at the page right now, and the adverts are for that recent flying car. Okay...
2015 is getting closer and closer! My opinion on the various whizzy futuristic doodads from BTTF2, if they would be practical and desirable beyond being cool etc:
Kirk Gibson Jr. Slugger 2000 adjustable bat
A telescopic bat? Okay so I guess this makes it more portable, but what mechanism would be inside it? Motors? That would break on impact! Maybe some sort of hydraulics or pneumatics? That would make it expensive and difficult to maintain. I would rather go for a bat that came in two halves and screwed together.
Auto-adjusting and auto-drying jacket
This wouldn't work with current technology. It would have to have some sort of hairdryer and car battery in there... and the thing would probably catch on fire and cause terrible deaths.
Okay, so let's assume it uses technology which works... some sort of nano engineering perhaps with millions of tiny fans and strands of battery woven into it. It could dry itself, which is nifty... but even better, the thing could keep you warm/cool in any weather! Would I buy a coat that would take the edge of of cold winter mornings and balmy summer afternoons? Yes.
Dehydrated pizza
I already eat quite a lot of microwave pizzas. This would mean I don't need to carry as much shopping. Yes please!
Garden Center fruit dispenser
If they could get it to work, I could certainly dig self grown fruit. I already had a friend get me to do this with lentils and chickpeas (they don't seem to grow, just expand) and the problem is always low yeild. Make this thing the size of a fridge and I'm sold.
Hoverboards
Great fun until it loses battery - at which point the board would crash and scape against the ground, and you would go flying. I've fallen off a skateboard before, and I couldn't walk properly for a week afterwards!
We have to have wireless electricity to keep all these gizmos charged up (and carry on running if the battery breaks). So for example, you would have wireless electrcity hotspots about town which would provide power.
As cool as they seem, I would get bored probably. Apart from the hovering aspect, it's just a normal skateboard. Sure, you could go on grass or gravel or whatever... but I still completely suck at skating. Maybe hovering would make me want to get better at it?
Flying Cars
I really want flying cars, but would they work? To stand any chance of actually happening, the things would have to mostly pilot themselves, and you'd be restricted to the sky lanes. That makes the flying part less exciting! Less traffic jams would be great though. I think the best aspect would be using the skylanes to zip between continents, providing it was actually cheaper than planes or ferries. What about a trans-alantic crossing though? Where would the power come from? Mr Fusion? And what about rest points? Would there be a floating platform in the middle of the ocean with a place to piss and get lunch?
It would make motor racing awesome though. I would start watching F1, or whatever came after it.
Powerlacing shoes
Providing we have wireless electricity everywhere and things don't run out of juice, this is a winner for me. Put your feet in the shoes and hit a button? Yes please. Laces are annoying and rubbish I think. It would need some kind of auto-release catch incase the shoes screwed up. Assuming we still live in a disposable culuture then, people would just throw away broken trainers and get another pair. Maybe we'll be working in sweatshops at that point?
2015 is getting closer and closer! My opinion on the various whizzy futuristic doodads from BTTF2, if they would be practical and desirable beyond being cool etc:
Kirk Gibson Jr. Slugger 2000 adjustable bat
A telescopic bat? Okay so I guess this makes it more portable, but what mechanism would be inside it? Motors? That would break on impact! Maybe some sort of hydraulics or pneumatics? That would make it expensive and difficult to maintain. I would rather go for a bat that came in two halves and screwed together.
Auto-adjusting and auto-drying jacket
This wouldn't work with current technology. It would have to have some sort of hairdryer and car battery in there... and the thing would probably catch on fire and cause terrible deaths.
Okay, so let's assume it uses technology which works... some sort of nano engineering perhaps with millions of tiny fans and strands of battery woven into it. It could dry itself, which is nifty... but even better, the thing could keep you warm/cool in any weather! Would I buy a coat that would take the edge of of cold winter mornings and balmy summer afternoons? Yes.
Dehydrated pizza
I already eat quite a lot of microwave pizzas. This would mean I don't need to carry as much shopping. Yes please!
Garden Center fruit dispenser
If they could get it to work, I could certainly dig self grown fruit. I already had a friend get me to do this with lentils and chickpeas (they don't seem to grow, just expand) and the problem is always low yeild. Make this thing the size of a fridge and I'm sold.
Hoverboards
Great fun until it loses battery - at which point the board would crash and scape against the ground, and you would go flying. I've fallen off a skateboard before, and I couldn't walk properly for a week afterwards!
We have to have wireless electricity to keep all these gizmos charged up (and carry on running if the battery breaks). So for example, you would have wireless electrcity hotspots about town which would provide power.
As cool as they seem, I would get bored probably. Apart from the hovering aspect, it's just a normal skateboard. Sure, you could go on grass or gravel or whatever... but I still completely suck at skating. Maybe hovering would make me want to get better at it?
Flying Cars
I really want flying cars, but would they work? To stand any chance of actually happening, the things would have to mostly pilot themselves, and you'd be restricted to the sky lanes. That makes the flying part less exciting! Less traffic jams would be great though. I think the best aspect would be using the skylanes to zip between continents, providing it was actually cheaper than planes or ferries. What about a trans-alantic crossing though? Where would the power come from? Mr Fusion? And what about rest points? Would there be a floating platform in the middle of the ocean with a place to piss and get lunch?
It would make motor racing awesome though. I would start watching F1, or whatever came after it.
Powerlacing shoes
Providing we have wireless electricity everywhere and things don't run out of juice, this is a winner for me. Put your feet in the shoes and hit a button? Yes please. Laces are annoying and rubbish I think. It would need some kind of auto-release catch incase the shoes screwed up. Assuming we still live in a disposable culuture then, people would just throw away broken trainers and get another pair. Maybe we'll be working in sweatshops at that point?
