Bluetooth that works. The ability to email large files. Low cost broadband. The right to repair. Not lose the ownership of digital media.
Also printers that work
Please don’t use email for file transfer. Its not designed for that. Upload your attachment somewhere and add a link to your email.
High speed rail (USA)
#FUCKcars
Land of the free™.
You’re free to choose anything you want as long as the shareholders benefit.
Not backsliding into feudalism?
You don’t like the extra steps we added?
Something, anything in the freaking moon.
Why haven’t we been back there in, like, 50 years? That mission was done with computers that were less powerful than my stupid phone.
Anything, a telescope, a transmitter of I-don’t-know-what shit, a lunar farm, a Coca-Cola or Disney advertising, ANYTHING!
Short answer: it’s not that we don’t have the technology, its that we don’t have a reason to. With very few exceptions, if you can do it on the moon you can do it on earth or in Earth orbit
Long answer: in the space industry/field the moon is incredibly boring, relatively expensive to get to, and adds an extra step of logistics to an already complicated mission profile. Most space related technology advancement efforts have gone into doing things in orbit and there is more to do there than on the moon, it’s logistically simpler, and cost is orders of magnitude less. Stuff is still advancing there, think Hubble vs James Web, GPS 1 vs GPS 3, the entire GOES system. In terms of technical challenges, they’re far more interesting than anything on the moon, but it’s not as flashy/headline grabbing so it’s not talked about much.
The US going to the moon in the 60/70s was a rare combination of a win for scientists, politicians, and the people. The political incentive went away since as the USSR space program collapsed so too did political pressure to continue to put men on the moon and “prove 'Murica is better than those damn commies”.
In modern times the political incentive is returning with the continued efforts by China to do more stuff in space so we get the Artemis program, but the incentives aren’t that strong which is why the program has moved so slowly.
I know all that, it’s what causes me the most frustration. In the end the “Greatest Achievement of Mankind” is not much different than a guy jumping to touch the ceiling because they told him “bet you can’t reach”, and after that, unless they find oil or some shit like that on the moon, they’re never coming back… At least the Americans, since the Chinese do plan to establish “something” there, at least to show they can.
For me, I view Apollo as the highschool quarterback winning the homecoming game.
In the context, its a great achievement. A lot of time, effort, and luck all came together at just the right moment to create an entertaining spectacle. The school is all happy and celebrating, students will remember that moment for years to come. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of an achievement since everyone there will move on to bigger and greater things, except they won’t have a student body cheering them on.
I think saying the Apollo program is one of the greatest achievements of mankind falsely puts it on a pedestal and forever sets up all other achievements as being lesser. Makes us all feel like anything that isn’t chasing that glory isn’t worth it. It’s an achievement for sure, but not the biggest. If I had to give the greatest achievement in space technology to anything, I’d give it to either GPS or GOES.
For me the one of the greatest is the Sputnik, it was the beginning of something amazing.
Advanced cybernetics. From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel.
It’s saddening to see the slow slow progress of cybernetics.
Me too. Every morning I wake up and scream in existential terror at the slimy corpuscle that is enveloping my soul.
more international cooperation for global benefit. instead we have more profit taking from everyone
First we sent small animals into space: a dog, then monkeys.
After that: people.
And then we stopped. I expected that we would have sent cows, horses, maybe even hippos or elephants by now.
I thought surely by now autocorrect would not still be horribly wrong in its predictions
Duck you!
Still waiting for my personal jetpack and/or flying car
Most people can’t be trusted operating a ground-dwelling vehicle, I’m fine with not having flying ones yet.
ROCKETMAN
A functional healthcare system.
I’m more concerned with the things we had a few years ago that are now gone, and the new fascist hand me downs that are popping up everywhere.
Universal Healthcare
High speed rail.
It’s insane Amtrak is the best we got. You should be able to go from Orlando to New York in hours, cheaply.
Wisecracking robots who drink alcohol.
with blackjack and hookers?
Private jet packs, flying cars, robot butlers, implantable cybernetic upgrades, a cure for baldness, affordable and safe space flight, free healthcare, a future that doesn’t look like the love child of Idiocracy and Demolition Man.
