quote:

Originally posted by grasstains:
SF pretty much missed the cellphone revolution boat. I read a lot of stories and novels from the 40s, 50s, and 60s where there is always the need to find a phone or some kind of vis-a-phone or something along those lines. Even STAR TREK's good ol' communicator only fulfilled three functions--verbal communication device, global positioning system, and if tweeked just right could cause a minor explosion.

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What about good old Dick Tracy and the wrist watch radio, same thing I think?

Yeah, and Ray was spot-on with his seashell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4dwcxiDTcA&feature=related

Next 50-100 years? More of the above!

The above YOUTUBE link is most emotionally riveting. What the heck will the future really look like with make-believe people?

That is an interesting character - but in principle not much different to an animatronic Abe Lincoln. But once they can think and walk freely... Marionettes, Inc?

Phil ~ Hey, how are you?

This is far more than Abe Lincoln at Disneyland. The facial features prompt a human response that far exceeds any Disney creation so far. Interesting to note, however, that the inventor has worked or is working for Disney on projects. This type of fluid emotional interchange lends more towards Spielberg's movie, "AI". I really see a time when people will give an exact response to a created robot creation they do to a human, and this will be insanity.

The inventor of FRUBBER has a website that is quite full and amazing, and scary. Check out his Alice robot in the works.
http://www.hansonrobotics.com

Nard, I'm doing well, and I hope you are too.

Thanks for the frubber link - these robots are marvellous, but spooky too. It makes me wonder whether we would really want robots that look like us. Zeno is much cuter than Alice or Einstein, and I find it hard to believe that future shoppers (on their first visit to Fantoccini!) would pick Einstein rather than Zeno.

Einstein is by the far the spookiest of these characters. He looks incredibly real. Hey, isn't Einstein's brain preserved in a pickle jar somewhere...

Dandy's got it.

The look of finances and the financial world will likely be a shocker in the future.

Look at it this way:
The current financial bailout costs MORE than this much:
•More than the combined $$ of the following:
•The Entire cost of World War I
•The Entire cost of World War II
•The Entire cost of the Korean War
•The Entire cost of the Vietnam War
....( The entire cost of all US wars in this century, actually, including Iraq and Afganistan)
•The Entire costs of the entire NASA program, including all the moon trips, etc etc.

And that STILL doesn't cover the current financial bailout.
So how much is the estimate bailout so far: hitting 8 TRILLION $$$.

So, what does the future of money going to look like?

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
So, what does the future of money going to look like?

Like this?

Does anyone recall money being discussed in a futuristic context in a Bradbury story? (Does Montag bring home a paycheck? Does Sam Parkhill take US dollars on Mars, or do you have to pay in "credits"?)

Perhaps money is one of those details Bradbury doesn't worry about. As long as we've had exchange, we've had media for exchange--from sea shells to gold to dollars to credit cards. What is important is what people do with that.

In the real world, Bradbury (and I, with him) want to see us keep investing in space. Bradbury has repeatedly said he's not a fan of the Space Shuttle program. He implies it deglorifies and demystifies space and makes it bland. He calls the Space Shuttle a bus. But, much as I love Bradbury, I see the Space Shuttle as having the opposite effect. We need to make going into space as routine and safe and repeatable as possible.

My vision is: (1) Space Shuttle, (2) Space Stations, (3) Probes and tools like the Hubble Telescope, (4) return to the moon, (5) Colony on the moon, (6) Colonize the moon, (7) trips to Mars, (8) Colony on Mars, (9) Colongize Mars . . . Then, we see where we can go beyond that.

Space is the vision of our species. We need to keep it alive.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
Like this?

Probably like this.

Idiots will just keep printing more, figuring that'll solve the problem.

Nobody listened to Ron Paul - at least not enough people did.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Dark:
...My vision is: (1) Space Shuttle, (2) Space Stations, (3) Probes and tools like the Hubble Telescope, (4) return to the moon, (5) Colony on the moon, (6) Colonize the moon, (7) trips to Mars, (8) Colony on Mars, (9) Colongize Mars . . . Then, we see where we can go beyond that...

That will do nicely. And space travel is looking decidely cheap, compared to the cost of bailing out our failing banks and national economies!

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
And space travel is looking decidedly cheap...

I know! We should hurry and go now whilst petrol is under two dollars a gallon!