Comments on: Welcome to 2009 – doesn’t it seem weird?

By: Bob Hawkins

Bob Hawkins — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:20:48 +0000

Actually, 2009 feels right. 2008 felt like it was at least a year long.

By: Larry J

Larry J — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:18:52 +0000

I just want to know where the flying cars promised me by 50’s futurists are? One of the guys at my local airport owns a flying car (Taylor Aerocar Model I, he also owns the only Model II but it isn't really a car). It's currently based in Florida. He's also working on his own flying car design which you can read about at Aerocar.com. There are several other designs in various stages of development. Me, I want a jet pack with enough range to make it to and from work, say 10-15 miles.

By: Bugs

Bugs — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:51:52 +0000

Sorry – that’s “A cramped little shotgun shack in whose ramshackle collection…”

By: Bugs

Bugs — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:49:51 +0000

I wanted that huge, elegant spinning wheel in space to be real – and me living on it. What did we get instead? A cramped little in whose ramshackle collection of “modules” a handful of highly-paid men and women with PhDs spend their days loading stuff, unloading stuff, moving stuff from one bin to another, and fixing broken space toilets using exotic, expensive tools and thousand-page checklists. As someone who grew up at the height of the “Space Age,” I am completely underwhelmed.

On the other hand, the stuff they’re doing with unmanned probes is absolutely brilliant.

By: John Moore

John Moore — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:23:42 +0000

Alan, gotcher facts wrong (PS, I’m a pilot).

Another sci-fi, try Stand on Zansibar, by Brunner – amazingly prophetic about the pervasiveness of electronic advertising.

By: Wellspring

Wellspring — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:12:59 +0000

Roger, if you’re looking for science fiction to read, try Schismatrix, by Bruce Sterling. Written more than two decades ago, it is still very fresh and relevant today. I’m not sure how to put it, but it kind of conveys the taste of the future, if you know what I mean.

By: Alan Kellogg

Alan Kellogg — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:02:34 +0000

John Moore, #6

Flying cars? They weren’t necessary. Back in 1600 Elizabethan England had the technology for steam powered ironclads. Problem is, they would’ve been incredibly expensive, and England had no need for them.

We have flying cars. They are incredibly expensive, and we have no real need for them. There’s also the fact that flying is harder than it looks. We have a lot of people who can’t handle driving, and driving is a cinch compared to flying.

Coolness alone doesn’t justify anything, it’s the need that makes it possible.

By: Gideon7

Gideon7 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:14:21 +0000

Clarke’s 2010 was sorta ok, 2061 was poor, and 3001 was awful.

By: John Moore

John Moore — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:36:02 +0000

Happy New Year, Roger!

These are indeed magic times.

I just want to know where the flying cars promised me by 50’s futurists are? I guess it’s okay, though, because they also blew it on nuclear holocaust predictions

By: Good Ole Charlie

Good Ole Charlie — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:07:30 +0000

There are three sequels to 2001. The first, 2010, was also made into a movie which I remember seeing.

Arthur Clarke also wrote – says Wikipedia – 2061: Odyssey Three (1987) and 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997). To date there has yet to be any serious discussion of filmmakers adapting either for the screen.

FYI!