Where’s the Future?

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2010
Where’s the Future?


This topic is taken up by Wired Magazine’s August 3, 2010 full featured cover story starring Will Ferrell, available on newsstands and the internet now. Many topics I wondered about are covered in a sometimes hilarious way. Some are not as much amusing as realistic.

Will Ferrell appears in this pictorial satire and real life explanation of why some of the things the world expected have never come to pass. “From clean coal to designer babies: Why the marvels we were promised haven’t materialized.” is the theme.

The Future That Never Happened features historical sniglets on topics as varied as (misspelling of Nanontechnology courtesy of Wired):

Automatic Dog Translator
Food in a Pill
Self-Driving Cars
Nuclear Spaceships
Edible Fake Beard Laser Guns
Designer Babies
The Singularity
Flying Cars — That Go 40 Feet WIMAX
Quantum Computing
Nanontechnology
A Birthday Cake With a Burrito Inside
What We’ve Lost
Supersonic Airlines
Ray Gun That Brings Mannequins to Life
Personalized Medications Robot Servants
Vat-Grown Meat
Clear Coal
Chewbacca-Mask Weddings Jetpacks
Fusion Power
Invisibility
Underwater City

In Will Ferrell’s Tour of Tech That Never Took on page 4 (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_future_ferrell/4/)

“WiMax

Still waiting for WiMax — you know, the souped-up, next-gen Wi-Fi that surrounds you at all times and lets you access the Internet via a radio transmitter up to 30 miles away? Then you must reside in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. If you live in most other cities in the US (or the world, for that matter — experts estimate that WiMax will cover 1 billion people by 2011), then you might already have the wireless technology on your smartphone or laptop. You just know it by another name: 4G. — Erin Biba”

Erin Biba describes herself as Reporter and Writer; Science, Technology, Pop Culture;

WIRED Magazine Correspondent and displays some summaries and links to a few of his works at: http://www.erinbiba.com/. She also twitters at http://twitter.com/erinbiba and will be happy to send you “short, timely messages” so you can keep up with everything of import that is going on in her life in case worrying about the future and why past promises have not been delivered is not enough to take up all of your time already.

Ms. Biba’s twitter-Bio says she is a “WIRED Magazine Correspondent. Science, Tech, and Pop Culture writer. Nerd. Fan of pie.” That last piece of information is crucial and explains a lot of things about her outlook on the world. Erin’s point of view might be signigicantly improved by a fantabulous NOM Coconut Cream Pie. If Erin is reading my blog I will certainly get Margarite to bake and send one to her. As far as me subscribing to the twitter to ascertain that… in my best Saturday Night Live Bush voice, “Not gonna happen.” If you want to find out more on Erin you can access Google which listed “About 2,840,000 results (0.52 seconds)” so there is still plenty to find out if you are that curious.

4G is the cell phone provider’s fee based version of what should have been something that everyone would benefit from instead of only those with the financial wherewithal but one of Erin’s observations just should not be glazed over: “Then you must reside in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.” Otherwise if you live anywhere else on Earth you are paying for it through some 3 or 4G and most likely at nowhere near those speeds.

Welcome to the present.

Where’s the Future? Don’t bother looking too far for it unless your aim is to be amused.

“The Future That Never Happened” is coming to a screen near you soon… starring… DOH – Will Ferrell.

BTW: Wired Magazine’s August 3, 2010 issue is worth the read... Lee, are you done with your printed version yet. I am still looking for a job so I can afford to subscribe myself. DakotaDawg is tired of looking over my shoulder at the laptop screen. She has some complaint about the type looking too small.
© 08.04.2010 steven d philbrick SR+ DakotaDawg