What's really sad about that article is the failure to mention the origin of the ideas: Philip K. Dick.
The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
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Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#22Hm, interesting. I only saw the movie about a month ago (and didn't even like it much) but it never occurred to me that the movie predicted anything correctly. I suppose because I took it out of context (in 2011, I took the things mentioned the article mostly for granted). Actually, the future predicted by the movie is pretty scary, in particular: - Automated cars that can be remotely controlled by the government - E…
> Automated cars that can be remotely controlled by the government Google automated cars + OnStar-Law Enforcement partnership. > - Eye-based identification everywhere Google already uses it in their datacenters. It's hard to say if it will catch on, but it's not unreasonable to expect its widespread use in, say, 2030/2040.
The reason that it hasn't taken off isn't due to technical reasons, we've had the technology for some time. Human's just aren't comfortable using it.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
http://www.nubrella.com/
An honest attempt to improve the umbrella, perhaps, but it looks both ridiculous and claustrophobic. (edit: Why do we describe small spaces as claustrophobic rather than claustrophobia-inducing? We don't describe spiders as arachnophobic or wide open spaces as agoraphobic, do we?) There must be a better solution to umbrellas getting inverted. Why do they even have to bend that way?
If you make the umbrella ribs more rigid you will tend to make them heavier. You could improve the leverage of the braces between the stem and the ribs by attaching the braces farther out on the ribs and lower down on the stem, but that will collide with the owner's head unless they hold the umbrella higher, which will cause more leakage and catch more wind and make it harder to brace the stem against your body in a wind.
I'd be very hesitant to claim that I could design a better umbrella. They've been evolving for a very long time. Maybe modern materials would help, but I for one wouldn't dare buy a carbon-fiber umbrella because I just know I'd leave it on a bus or something. Cheapness is a feature too.
Meanwhile, the hilarious invention at the link not only looks ridiculous, but I'd have to be convinced that it wouldn't drip all over my lower body. And how on earth do you carry it when it's folded up? A big feature of the standard umbrella design is that it's not that hard to carry or store while folded.
I have a nice waterproof hat from Outdoor Research and a Gore-Tex jacket. For serious swimming I've also got waterproof pants and even gaiters. That combination seems like it would be superior to the space helmet.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#24Hm, interesting. I only saw the movie about a month ago (and didn't even like it much) but it never occurred to me that the movie predicted anything correctly. I suppose because I took it out of context (in 2011, I took the things mentioned the article mostly for granted). Actually, the future predicted by the movie is pretty scary, in particular: - Automated cars that can be remotely controlled by the government - E…
The technology was specifically meant to look like what could be possible ~50 years from its release.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#25Hm, interesting. I only saw the movie about a month ago (and didn't even like it much) but it never occurred to me that the movie predicted anything correctly. I suppose because I took it out of context (in 2011, I took the things mentioned the article mostly for granted). Actually, the future predicted by the movie is pretty scary, in particular: - Automated cars that can be remotely controlled by the government - E…
I'm renting a Ford Edge right now. After a few minutes, the radio will mute itself until you buckle your seatbelt. The car is configured to limit your speed to 80 MPH or under.
Even though I drive with my seatbelt on under 80 MPH anyways, it's really annoying for my car to tell me what to do.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#26Was anyone else seriously pissed that the Spielberg version missed the entire point of the Dick story?
What was the point of the Dick story? Movie adaptations of science fiction short stories often have a way of missing the point. Sometimes it's an improvement, sometimes it isn't. The bit about Minority Report that I didn't like (and I think this point was made by somebody else at the time but I can't remember who it was) is as follows: the movie starts off by saying "Let's suppose that there's some psychic system tha…
My understanding was that the device did work there was just a human element to the interpretation.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#27Hm, interesting. I only saw the movie about a month ago (and didn't even like it much) but it never occurred to me that the movie predicted anything correctly. I suppose because I took it out of context (in 2011, I took the things mentioned the article mostly for granted). Actually, the future predicted by the movie is pretty scary, in particular: - Automated cars that can be remotely controlled by the government - E…
I'm renting a Ford Edge right now. After a few minutes, the radio will mute itself until you buckle your seatbelt. The car is configured to limit your speed to 80 MPH or under. Even though I drive with my seatbelt on under 80 MPH anyways, it's really annoying for my car to tell me what to do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyKey
It should be configurable, the rental company probably programmed the key they gave you.
When I rented a Penske truck, it was speed limited to 75mph, which I don't object too, 26" diesel truck over 75mph is a scary thing, even when going in a straight line through fields of corn.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#28A small detail I found interesting while watching Minority Report recently: among all the futuristic innovations displayed and mentioned in this article, when it began to rain, people still opened up traditional black umbrellas.
lots of materials innovation has made wearing water proof jackets, pants and shoes way more awesome than the smelly, hot, unbreathing linseed oil covered cloaks of a hundred years ago.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#29What's really sad about that article is the failure to mention the origin of the ideas: Philip K. Dick.
Dick isn't the source of most of the ideas discussed in the article. Minority Report is a pretty short read, and well worth the hour or two it takes.
Social Advertising: There isn't any advertising. The only media that's referenced is the radio which is a broadcast medium, and as such can't be individually tuned.
Virtual Shopping: Anderton buys some essentials at a drugstore, and a second hand set of clothes. It's important to the plot of the story that he takes the risk of exposing himself to get these items.
Crime: Alright, I'll give you that one. Pre crime is a cool concept.
Robots: The only automatic machines mentioned in the story are those that tend to the needs of the pre cogs (presumably life support type stuff) and things like automatic card printers. Hardly robotic spiders.
Gesture Based Computing: In the story, Anderton has to lookup where data will be stored on a tape and manually copy it to another reel of tape. That's as close as he gets to a cool interface.
Cars: Flying cars feature into the story, but they required a human driver. Anderton has to ask his wife to take the wheel at one point as he has to deal with something else.
Sometimes it's alright to acknowledge that an adaptation of a work has added to it.
Re: The surprising accuracy of Minority Report 10 years later
#30Scott Adams wrote in The Dilbert Future that life would become more like Star Trek.
I heard once that the imagination of science fiction is the same imagination of innovation. That life becomes more and more like science fiction because actually building something is the next step after coming up with the idea,