6 ms·

When I was a boy, I had a book. It featured the Transrapid (look it up!), the Shuttle, the Concorde ... as heralds of the future. The 2000s, when all of these

When I was a boy, I had a book. It featured the Transrapid (look it up!), the Shuttle, the Concorde ... as heralds of the future. The 2000s, when all of these things slowly were phased out, were a hard time, making me feel old for the first time. Sure, we got the Internet, we got vertically-landing rocket boosters, we got huge improvements in medical procedures ... but they all look so ... non-futuristic.

Tomte 10y ago
Transrapid! I've ridden it in Shanghai, and I was lucky to be there at one of the time slots when it is going higher speed (430 km/h ~ 267 mph).
- DocTomoe 10y ago
  Actually, I am toying with the idea to fly to Shanghai (instead of Hong Kong) once in my life just to be able to take the Transrapid... Can you tell me when those high-speed time slots happen?
  - xgk 10y ago
    The maglev station at Shanghai airport tells you clearly when the fast ones are going. The experience of going so fast so close to the ground is quite maginficent. I was wondering why the cars 'stop' on the nearby motorway.
  - Tomte 10y ago
    Unfortunately I can't and I don't remember. The German Wikipedia says that there are two 45 minute slots a day, but not when exactly. Maybe their web site tells it? I could find the information after a cursory look.
  - oevi 10y ago
    Actually, it's not that much of a deal. You will barely notice it. The whole transrapid ride from/to the airport is a bit.. underwhelming. For me, Hong Kong and especially its skyline was much more futuristic and fascinating. If you've never been there, go for it!
    - Gravityloss 10y ago
      I think that's a sign of advanced technology. If it's silent and comfortable. I also feel it's like the M&M test for quality and culture of a company or nation.
      - ant6n 10y ago
        The Shanghai airport transrapid is surprisingly loud and rumbly, kind of like a roller coaster with its rubber wheels. Or like the Montreal Metro. (in Montreal they also believe that heir trains are super smooth and quiet because of the rubber wheels, compared to steel train. I can not explain this belief.)
dcposch 10y ago
A Falcon 9 returning from past the Karman line at near hypersonic speed, flipping around, balancing itself like a pencil on a fingertip, and landing back at the launch pad isn't futuristic? We are living in a second golden age of aerospace innovation. https://youtu.be/1B6oiLNyKKI https://youtu.be/1B6oiLNyKKI Fun fact: the Falcon 9 cannot throttle its engines low enough to hover. That means it lands at >1g, cutting thrust the moment it touches the pad to avoid taking off again.
ojii 10y ago
There's a long-distance maglev train line under construction in Japan from Tokyo to Osaka, scheduled to be partially complete (Tokyo-Nagoya) in 2027 and fully complete in 2045 (if you're lucky and win the chance to buy a ticket, you can ride the bit of track that is complete already): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen
pjc50 10y ago
There are few things more futuristic than the vertically-landing rocket boosters. But futurism has itself taken a massive knock. The 80s was the era of popular realization of the downsides of technology (Chernobyl, Bhopal, phaseout of CFC and tetraethyl lead, global warming, environmental issues generally) and the 2000s the era of realizing that progress is not a ratchet and the simplistic view of bombing countries into democracy wasn't going to work. You can't present people with an unalloyed utopia and expect them to believe in it. People will ask the same questions of technology as were asked of Concorde - cost and safety - but be far less impressed with the raw concept of highspeed travel.
- kwhitefoot 10y ago
  None of the problems with Chernobyl, Bhopal, phaseout of CFC and tetraethyl lead had anything to do with technology. In each case the problems were understood and technical solutions were available and had been for many years. The problems were social, political, financial, and had a lot to do with vested interests being much more powerful than those who wanted change and safety.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    Yes. That's why futurism is dead. That is, people have realised that you can't treat "technology" as some kind of standalone magic that would, of itself, deliver a better society. People themselves will not be remade in technology's image.
    - eric-hu 10y ago
      > People themselves will not be remade in technology's image. That's a rather poetic statement. Is that a common expression?
      - pjc50 10y ago
        Not that I'm consciously aware of, but I may have subconsciously lifted it from somewhere. "Made man in My image" is of course from Genesis. The idea of technology making or remaking man rather than the other way round is definitely part of Futurism, Modernism and to some extent Bolshevism. I'd suggest reading Bruno Latour on the subject, especially "Aramis, or the Love of Technology".
grecy 10y ago
"We can now go to a museum to see the future" -Jeremy Clarkson
dorfsmay 10y ago
Futuristic things I do today: Working from home with people thousands of km away, talking to them, looking at them in the eye. Working, pairing with other people, while in flight between cities. Walking around with a phone in my pocket, people can call me wherever I am. Looking things up from different sources quickly while talking at the dinner table (use to be single source dictionary + a trip to the library later). At work, an my kids working together collaboratively on a document.
- corecoder 10y ago
  > looking at them in the eye That's still an open research field right now.
  - dorfsmay 10y ago
    What do you mean?
    - corecoder 10y ago
      Video chats are common, but actual eye contact is currently impossible: you either look at the other person's eyes, and thus you appear to be looking off, or you look at the camera, and then they see you looking at them but you aren't actually looking at them in the eye. There's currently research going on to find out if there is any way to make eye contact possible, but I don't know of any proposed way so far.
      - nradov 10y ago
        I would think the only practical approach would be to precisely position multiple webcams around the perimeter of the screen, and then use software to merge and manipulate the video streams in real time to simulate eye contact.
        inimino 10y ago
        Or put the camera in the middle of the screen, or just wait for full 3D immersion.
Xylakant 10y ago
There's a real transrapid up for auction right today, one of the original test trains. so if you have a little spare cash in your pocket you could get your childhoods herald of the future delivered right to your front door. You'll have to be quick though: https://www.vebeg.de/web/de/verkauf/suchen.htm?SHOW_AUS=1643270&SHOW_LOS=1&nolistlink=1 https://www.vebeg.de/web/de/verkauf/suchen.htm?SHOW_AUS=1643...

Tomte 10y ago

Transrapid! I've ridden it in Shanghai, and I was lucky to be there at one of the time slots when it is going higher speed (430 km/h ~ 267 mph).

DocTomoe 10y ago
Actually, I am toying with the idea to fly to Shanghai (instead of Hong Kong) once in my life just to be able to take the Transrapid... Can you tell me when those high-speed time slots happen?
- xgk 10y ago
  The maglev station at Shanghai airport tells you clearly when the fast ones are going. The experience of going so fast so close to the ground is quite maginficent. I was wondering why the cars 'stop' on the nearby motorway.
- Tomte 10y ago
  Unfortunately I can't and I don't remember. The German Wikipedia says that there are two 45 minute slots a day, but not when exactly. Maybe their web site tells it? I could find the information after a cursory look.
- oevi 10y ago
  Actually, it's not that much of a deal. You will barely notice it. The whole transrapid ride from/to the airport is a bit.. underwhelming. For me, Hong Kong and especially its skyline was much more futuristic and fascinating. If you've never been there, go for it!
  - Gravityloss 10y ago
    I think that's a sign of advanced technology. If it's silent and comfortable. I also feel it's like the M&M test for quality and culture of a company or nation.
    - ant6n 10y ago
      The Shanghai airport transrapid is surprisingly loud and rumbly, kind of like a roller coaster with its rubber wheels. Or like the Montreal Metro. (in Montreal they also believe that heir trains are super smooth and quiet because of the rubber wheels, compared to steel train. I can not explain this belief.)

dcposch 10y ago

A Falcon 9 returning from past the Karman line at near hypersonic speed, flipping around, balancing itself like a pencil on a fingertip, and landing back at the launch pad isn't futuristic? We are living in a second golden age of aerospace innovation. https://youtu.be/1B6oiLNyKKI https://youtu.be/1B6oiLNyKKI Fun fact: the Falcon 9 cannot throttle its engines low enough to hover. That means it lands at >1g, cutting thrust the moment it touches the pad to avoid taking off again.

ojii 10y ago

There's a long-distance maglev train line under construction in Japan from Tokyo to Osaka, scheduled to be partially complete (Tokyo-Nagoya) in 2027 and fully complete in 2045 (if you're lucky and win the chance to buy a ticket, you can ride the bit of track that is complete already): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen

pjc50 10y ago

There are few things more futuristic than the vertically-landing rocket boosters. But futurism has itself taken a massive knock. The 80s was the era of popular realization of the downsides of technology (Chernobyl, Bhopal, phaseout of CFC and tetraethyl lead, global warming, environmental issues generally) and the 2000s the era of realizing that progress is not a ratchet and the simplistic view of bombing countries into democracy wasn't going to work. You can't present people with an unalloyed utopia and expect them to believe in it. People will ask the same questions of technology as were asked of Concorde - cost and safety - but be far less impressed with the raw concept of highspeed travel.

kwhitefoot 10y ago
None of the problems with Chernobyl, Bhopal, phaseout of CFC and tetraethyl lead had anything to do with technology. In each case the problems were understood and technical solutions were available and had been for many years. The problems were social, political, financial, and had a lot to do with vested interests being much more powerful than those who wanted change and safety.
- pjc50 10y ago
  Yes. That's why futurism is dead. That is, people have realised that you can't treat "technology" as some kind of standalone magic that would, of itself, deliver a better society. People themselves will not be remade in technology's image.
  - eric-hu 10y ago
    > People themselves will not be remade in technology's image. That's a rather poetic statement. Is that a common expression?
    - pjc50 10y ago
      Not that I'm consciously aware of, but I may have subconsciously lifted it from somewhere. "Made man in My image" is of course from Genesis. The idea of technology making or remaking man rather than the other way round is definitely part of Futurism, Modernism and to some extent Bolshevism. I'd suggest reading Bruno Latour on the subject, especially "Aramis, or the Love of Technology".

grecy 10y ago

"We can now go to a museum to see the future" -Jeremy Clarkson

dorfsmay 10y ago

Futuristic things I do today: Working from home with people thousands of km away, talking to them, looking at them in the eye. Working, pairing with other people, while in flight between cities. Walking around with a phone in my pocket, people can call me wherever I am. Looking things up from different sources quickly while talking at the dinner table (use to be single source dictionary + a trip to the library later). At work, an my kids working together collaboratively on a document.

corecoder 10y ago
> looking at them in the eye That's still an open research field right now.
- dorfsmay 10y ago
  What do you mean?
  - corecoder 10y ago
    Video chats are common, but actual eye contact is currently impossible: you either look at the other person's eyes, and thus you appear to be looking off, or you look at the camera, and then they see you looking at them but you aren't actually looking at them in the eye. There's currently research going on to find out if there is any way to make eye contact possible, but I don't know of any proposed way so far.
    - nradov 10y ago
      I would think the only practical approach would be to precisely position multiple webcams around the perimeter of the screen, and then use software to merge and manipulate the video streams in real time to simulate eye contact.
      - inimino 10y ago
        Or put the camera in the middle of the screen, or just wait for full 3D immersion.

Xylakant 10y ago

There's a real transrapid up for auction right today, one of the original test trains. so if you have a little spare cash in your pocket you could get your childhoods herald of the future delivered right to your front door. You'll have to be quick though: https://www.vebeg.de/web/de/verkauf/suchen.htm?SHOW_AUS=1643270&SHOW_LOS=1&nolistlink=1 https://www.vebeg.de/web/de/verkauf/suchen.htm?SHOW_AUS=1643...