Slog - Comments on The Future Is Now http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now This is George Jetson and his family. This is the M200G Volantor. It takes off and lands vertically, hovers at three meters, has a top speed of 50 mph, and is currently in production by Moller International. (On a semi-related note, while doing a Google image search for The Jetsons, I stumbled across this, which is just so, so wrong—not to mention completely NSFW.) Update: In the comments, "Monkey" writes: "Moller's other flying car is much much sexier." Indeed it is:... Copyright 2008 Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:27:56 -0800 Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:44:18 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Callie I'm confused. If the future is now, how come the people in the M200G Volantor are clearly in the year 1976?

]]> Callie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774885 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774885 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:42:52 -0800 Comment by monkey Moller's other flying car is much much sexier.

Speaking of sexier, you MIGHT want to tag that link as NSFW seeing as how IT FUCKING IS!

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774886 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774886 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:43:25 -0800 Comment by Thom I do have a birthday coming up. I wonder if they do layaway.

]]> Thom http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774905 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774905 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:07:16 -0800 Comment by Jordyn pff, that Jetsons porn is the tip of a very large iceberg of drawn porn.

I mean, the dog and kids aren't even involved, and there's no gore at all.

]]> Jordyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774920 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774920 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:18:05 -0800 Comment by Cato the Younger Younger I shudder to think of the car crashes with those machines......

]]> Cato the Younger Younger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774934 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774934 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:25:02 -0800 Comment by COMTE Looks like an update of the old AVRO "Flying Saucer" developed for the U.S. Airforce back in the late 1950's.

And probably about as aerodynamically unstable, considering they had the thing tethered to a crane for the demo.

Besides, it's not a REAL Jetson's Flying Car unless it folds up into a suitcase at the touch of a button...

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774954 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774954 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:33:38 -0800 Comment by Sir Elton Moller's a G. What's far more interesting than his car designs are his thoughts on removing humans from the seat of control in the act of driving. He's all about safe, gridlock free travel.

You bike nazis who think china's way of life is something to aim for should dare to imagine a world like Moller sees. If those jetcars were eco safe, affordable and solved all traffic issues wouldn't that be superior to the quaint old world technology you're pushing.

Revert to bikes? Should we shut down the internet too?

]]> Sir Elton http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774955 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774955 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:35:48 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt I want that guy's sweater. It is a sweater, isn't it?

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774979 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774979 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:00:31 -0800 Comment by Dr_Awesome The Moller flying-car-thingy isn't just the car. He's proposing a technological network of systems to take a lot of the human element out of flying the car, in order to make it safer. As said above, imagine your idiot neighbors and their kids flying the damn things all over, imagine the carnage that would result.

His flying car will rely on computer navigation and control systems that haven't yet been built in order for the car to be practical. Without massive amounts of capital and the backing of the government it just won't happen.

]]> Dr_Awesome http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774987 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774987 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:07:39 -0800 Comment by N in Seattle Hey, is that Frank Chopp in the orange sweater?

]]> N in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774993 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c774993 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:11:23 -0800 Comment by Orv @6: Aerodynamic instability is easily conquered with computers. Less likely to be remedied is the enormous fuel consumption of such designs. These kinds of directed-thrust craft have a way of making conventional small aircraft look like models of efficiency.

]]> Orv http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775048 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775048 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:45:58 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi @4,

The kids are involved. Isn't that George's daughter sucking him off?

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775056 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775056 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:50:34 -0800 Comment by Hogfat Luddites and Neophobes.

"Who needs one of them damn carphones anyway?"

]]> Hogfat http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775064 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775064 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:54:08 -0800 Comment by Carl Ballard Don't forget about the jetpacks rocketbelts.

http://thismodernworld.com/3894

]]> Carl Ballard http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775093 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775093 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:18:19 -0800 Comment by Mike Before anyone gets too enthusiastic, keep in mind that Moller has been promising the Moon (and defrauding investors) for several decades and still has not managed to produce one single machine which is actually capable of going anywhere.

]]> Mike http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775119 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775119 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:41:02 -0800 Comment by Jordyn @12

Oh, is it? I haven't watched the Jetsons in a while; I forget who's who (among the Jetsons).

Still, no animals, no gore? I have seen way way worse. Horrible, hilarious things.

]]> Jordyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775176 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775176 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:22:41 -0800 Comment by Jay #13 and #7: Fuck flying cars. You think I want a bunch of assholes zipping around all day in the skies above the city? Not only is it highly, highly unsafe to have idiot drivers moving at will through the sky- every car accident would be a disaster, one moderate impact and you've turned a house into a crater- but it would also be horrifically ugly and a source of extreme noise pollution, not to mention other forms of pollution probably. So no thanks. I'll put up with cars on the ground. But the moment someone tries implement an individually owned flying car based transportation system, I'll al Qaeda their fucking HQ myself.

If you want flying ambulances, firetrucks, and public transit, things that make practical sense in other words, I'm right there with you. But I'm not going to live in a world where private citizens can fly above my head, where the sky is full of loud objects obstructing my sky and raining noise upon me.

]]> Jay http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775258 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775258 Science Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:51:50 -0800 Comment by Some Of You Fuckers Are Just Handing The Executioners The Bullets Dude, you ain't gonna Al-Qaeda a fucking thing so let's just cut the crap.

Second, it's real that mankind is constantly converging with it's machines. To the point where it feels really alien to refer to an iPhone as a machine.

Right now teenagers are multitasking in their sleep and we are all slowly becoming acquainted with programming routines in the casual use of our devices. Quit fucking underestimating humanity. Who raised you shook motherfuckers? Seriously.

Moving parts are going to be obsolete in all machinery by the turn of the century and all machines will be so fucking sentient that casual users will be expert programmers and most people will be casual users at the very least.

That whole,"sleepwalking through a fully automated future world" bullshit from the Jetsons will never, ever happen. We are not going to stop evolving and converging with our creations. Get it right, dummy. Also, there is no chance a gross polluter is going to get anywhere in this day and age.

Just to placate your silly ass, the likelihood of flying cars actually coming to fruition is very slim
because the scared-ass-caveman with access to explosives to visionary pioneer ratio in this world is grossly fucking out of balance. But if and when, your scared ass can rest assured, they will seldom be piloted by anything other than a very safe and reliable machine.

In the world we're building right now though,locating food and a clean water supply will be the only thing you have to worry about.

]]> Some Of You Fuckers Are Just Handing The Executioners The Bullets http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775355 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775355 Science Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:24:00 -0800 Comment by Jay You're a strange person. Perhaps you shouldn't read so many back issues of Wired and Popular Mechanics, and perhaps consider the concept of practical application and cost/benefit analysis, the little detail futurists and enthusiasts like yourself. Just because you can do something- suffusing yourself with machine parts, building flying cars, etc.- doesn't mean you should. People like you promote terraforming Mars when humans can scarcely manage the earth's atmosphere. Get your head out of the clouds, Mr. Visionary.

]]> Jay http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775418 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775418 Science Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:53:21 -0800 Comment by Jay You're a strange person. Perhaps you shouldn't read so many back issues of Wired and Popular Mechanics, and perhaps consider the concept of practical application and cost/benefit analysis, the little details futurists and enthusiasts like yourself always manage to ignore. Just because you can do something- suffusing yourself with machine parts, building flying cars, etc.- doesn't mean you should. People like you promote terraforming Mars when humans can scarcely manage the earth's atmosphere. Get your head out of the clouds, Mr. Visionary, and try thinking instead of imagining.

]]> Jay http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775419 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c775419 Science Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:55:40 -0800 Comment by Mr. Visionary "People like you", says the advocate of thinking.

I know you're not missing my point, you're just pretending to.

Freedom of movement, as promoted by safe, fast, clean, affordable personal transit is not some sort of thing to be ridiculed for striving towards.

Fuck, Tor. Do you hate fire too because it hurts when you touch it?

Exploit your intellect, don't cuckold it.

You've sound like you've got thrust but your trajectory really sucks.

]]> Mr. Visionary http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c776185 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/the_future_is_now#c776185 Science Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:44:18 -0800