5 ms·

Flying cars. We were supposed to have them 22 years ago and now they're saying that I should get a bike to go to work.

socialismisok 4y ago
Flying cars are a nightmare. Ebikes are incredible. They are the most efficient form of transportation there is, they don't pollute, they are speedy, and they are compact!
- prego_xo 4y ago
  And they've been dumped all over city sidewalks in California because it's a legal grey-area.
  - yamtaddle 4y ago
    Problems with those I-can't-believe-they're-not-illegal littering rental services, not the bikes themselves, right? Surely people aren't buying ebikes and leaving them all over the sidewalks.
  - socialismisok 4y ago
    Mine lives in my garage. Rental bike programs are... Hmm
- falcolas 4y ago
  Some downsides bikes have which flying cars would not: - No weather protection - Don't work (well, if at all) in snow, ice, heavy rains. - Limited (or zero) safety features, despite going fast enough to cause injuries and using the same infrastructure as cars - Limited speed and range - 2d congestion limits throughput
  - socialismisok 4y ago
    We have flying cars today, we call them helicopters, and there's millions of reasons why we don't have them in every house.
    - falcolas 4y ago
      Equivocating a helicopter a flying car is akin to calling a Model T a Tesla with FSD. And those "millions" of reasons all boil down to R&D costs. Reliability, inspections, takeoff-to-landing autopilots (they exist - have existed for over a decade - for military helicopter drones), etc. are all cost issues which are slowly being worked on. The progress could be faster if it didn't rely on angel and startup-style investments and the associated NDAs and trade secrets, but I don't expect that to happen in today's political environment.
alexb_ 4y ago
We have flying cars. They're called helicopters.
- acuozzo 4y ago
  I think they're called airplanes. Are most helicopters capable of "taxi"-ing?
  - recursive 4y ago
    No, they're "flying" cars, not "rolling".
acuozzo 4y ago
> Flying cars Most drivers (in the US, at least) have trouble enough navigating two dimensions. Adding a third would undoubtedly make matters worse. Hell, just look at the safety record of private jets.

Flying cars are a nightmare. Ebikes are incredible. They are the most efficient form of transportation there is, they don't pollute, they are speedy, and they are compact!

prego_xo 4y ago
And they've been dumped all over city sidewalks in California because it's a legal grey-area.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  Problems with those I-can't-believe-they're-not-illegal littering rental services, not the bikes themselves, right? Surely people aren't buying ebikes and leaving them all over the sidewalks.
- socialismisok 4y ago
  Mine lives in my garage. Rental bike programs are... Hmm
falcolas 4y ago
Some downsides bikes have which flying cars would not: - No weather protection - Don't work (well, if at all) in snow, ice, heavy rains. - Limited (or zero) safety features, despite going fast enough to cause injuries and using the same infrastructure as cars - Limited speed and range - 2d congestion limits throughput
- socialismisok 4y ago
  We have flying cars today, we call them helicopters, and there's millions of reasons why we don't have them in every house.
  - falcolas 4y ago
    Equivocating a helicopter a flying car is akin to calling a Model T a Tesla with FSD. And those "millions" of reasons all boil down to R&D costs. Reliability, inspections, takeoff-to-landing autopilots (they exist - have existed for over a decade - for military helicopter drones), etc. are all cost issues which are slowly being worked on. The progress could be faster if it didn't rely on angel and startup-style investments and the associated NDAs and trade secrets, but I don't expect that to happen in today's political environment.

alexb_ 4y ago

We have flying cars. They're called helicopters.

acuozzo 4y ago
I think they're called airplanes. Are most helicopters capable of "taxi"-ing?
- recursive 4y ago
  No, they're "flying" cars, not "rolling".

acuozzo 4y ago

> Flying cars Most drivers (in the US, at least) have trouble enough navigating two dimensions. Adding a third would undoubtedly make matters worse. Hell, just look at the safety record of private jets.