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It's 2019, the year Blade Runner takes place: I can has flying cars?
Welcome to 2019, the year in which Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi film masterpiece Blade Runner is set. And as predicted in this loose adaptation of a 1968 Philip K. Dick story, we have flying cars.
The reason you don't have a flying car was explained by author William Gibson, who famously observed, more or less, "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed."
If you're Sebastian Thrun, you've already flown in Kitty Hawk's Flyer, which is more flying boat than flying car. If you're not, chances are you will have to wait a bit longer to live your sci-fi noir transport fantasy.
Topics include flying cars, artificial pets, voice driven photo enhancement, the Voight-Kampff machine, ad-festooned airships, space colonies, artificial organs and replicants.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2019, @04:28PM (13 children)
Good lord, have you seen how most people drive and you want to add another dimension to it? No.
Could I have decent high-speed public transport instead?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 02 2019, @04:41PM (12 children)
What makes you think that people would be "driving" them rather than software? Heard of autopilot (the real one)?
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(Score: 5, Touché) by stretch611 on Wednesday January 02 2019, @05:37PM (8 children)
Good lord, have you seen how poorly most software is written and you want to add another dimension to it? No.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday January 02 2019, @05:58PM (6 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avionics_software [wikipedia.org]
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(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Wednesday January 02 2019, @07:47PM (1 child)
Really, you want to try and use facts to dispute my joke... This is the internet after all. It should be a troll rage or nothing. =)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 02 2019, @08:08PM
Joek? Don't quit your day job.
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(Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday January 02 2019, @07:47PM
Now where's the software that runs air traffic control?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 03 2019, @01:30AM (2 children)
Newsflash: I developed "avionics software" for a small drone company - they had the most horrible non-redundant safety culture I have encountered anywhere, with the possible exception of the video security company I worked for after them. Even so, we only ever lost one plane and, no, it wasn't their only plane and it didn't stop operations, but it did encourage them to not fly without trackers onboard anymore - did I mention a really shoddy safety culture?. Compare that record with the military drones that go astray seemingly all the time in the news - seems like they're not much better.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @02:05AM (1 child)
Every new car, airliner, train, etc. is controlled by software to some extent. Will shoddy software cause more deaths than human error? We'll see.
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(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 03 2019, @03:15AM
CSX & Amtrak have been wetting their pants over fully relinquishing train switching control to software for decades. I don't think they're 100% there yet.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2019, @06:34PM
Hi,
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(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday January 02 2019, @08:08PM (2 children)
The real "autopilot" isn't much better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airline_flights_that_required_gliding [wikipedia.org]
"14 August 2005
Helios Airways Flight 522
Boeing 737-31S
Grammatiko, Greece
Flight crew incapacitation due to wrong setup of pressurization system
After takeoff from Larnaca, Cyprus, the flight crew continued ascent despite a cabin pressurization warning, and all on board, save for one flight attendant who attempted to control the aircraft, were eventually incapacitated by lack of oxygen. The auto pilot flew the aircraft to Athens, Greece and entered a holding pattern until both engines flamed out due to fuel exhaustion. Following this, the aircraft descended in a gliding spiral until it struck a hill in Grammatiko, killing all on board. "
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @02:21AM (1 child)
An interesting example you've given. While autopilot certainly did not save the day (it only did what it was designed to do), several human errors happened first:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522 [wikipedia.org]
It seems that the lesson to be learned is that more automation is needed, not less.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 03 2019, @03:19AM
If autopilots were more trusted, they are already capable of landing at a destination - not so great at conversing with ATC, but if you've only got one full autopilot plane in the sky at a time the human pilots can give it a wide berth while it gets the passengers back on the ground safely.
🌻🌻 [google.com]