The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow's Tech Still Isn't Here

 The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow's Tech Still Isn't Here, Nicole Kobie, Bloomsbury Sigma, 2024

For those who grew up in the 1960s, the 21st century was supposed to usher in an era of automation, robot servants and vacations on the moon. Who remembers the TV show "The Jetsons"? Where is it? Where is my flying car? This book attempts to give an answer.

Driverless cars have gotten a lot of publicity in recent years, both good and bad. It will be a long time before robots can walk and move on their own (whether in a factory or in public) without falling over or walking into a wall.

A couple of smart cities have been built, including one in Malaysia and one in the UAE. They are not exactly a roaring success. Perhaps a more modest, and achievable goal is trash bins that can signal when they are full, or underground pipes that can signal when there is a leak or other problem. Do you remember Google Glass? Enough said about augmented reality.

Many attempts have been made to graft airplane wings onto a car with enough power for liftoff. Once the flying car is in the air, where does it land? Can it land on a suburban street, fold its wings, then pull into the driveway (like an average car)? Probably not. Will it need a dedicated landing area, like a rooftop heliport? If flying cars become popular, it will be necessary to create things like airborne intersections and stop lights and speed limits.

This is an excellent book. It provides an easy-to-understand history of each subject. Where is The Future? Here is a very well-done answer to that question.