Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler
The scifi expectation is way beyond reality.
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The sci-fi expectation is CURRENTLY way beyond reality. Often, reality exceeds the sci-fi expectation and we quickly take it for granted. Self-driving cars will be no exception.
Star Trek self opening and closing doors - Every major retail store has them.
Star Trek communicator - Cell phones do that and a whole lot more.
Star Trek computers you can talk to - Siri, Google, etc.
Star Trek touch-screens - Most every cell phone and laptop now.
Self-flying drones.
I'm always wrong about technology. I remember a kid in highschool telling me he was setting up a home network, which I replied "why would you want that when you have floppy disks to transfer files?". Now everyone has wifi.
When internet was available on cell phones, I figured it was a pointless technology since most everyone had internet at home. Now that feature is usually more valuable than home internet service.
Early implimentations of any technology usually have problems, go through many design revisions, develop standards, and finally become ubiquitious.
Flying cars won't be a reality for a long time, if ever, but self-driving cars will be among the biggest game changers of my lifetime. There are many big players investing in the technology, which indicates it isn't going away.