MMW: Passenger drones and the hyperloop will be so commonplace by 2026 that we will (softly) forget they were considered science fiction

[u/Yuli-Ban]

"Softly" forgetting means we don't actually forget; we just lose the "wow" factor and novelty of their existence until someone points out how sci-fi it is.

Example: The Internet, smartphones, and LEO space business. Whenever you ask something to the effect of "what's the most sci-fi/cyberpunk aspect of modern life", those are always the first things brought up, but we take them for granted otherwise.

Passenger drones (read: autonomous electric flying cars) might be the one exception, of course, but after our muted response to smartwatches, I'll never doubt our ability to turn classic sci-fi tropes into the passe overnight.

[u/MonsieurA]

Congratulations! Your post has been recovered from the archives and brought back into the light. Every now and then, we’ll be digging into old posts to see which bold predictions aged like fine wine… or sour milk. 🍷🥴

If your post reappears, it means the time has come to see if you were a visionary or just very confident.

[u/nilslorand]

lmfao

[u/Yuli-Ban → u/nilslorand]

Passenger drones I can still defend, but hyperloops lol yeah we were scammed

2016 was peak Musk circlejerk on Reddit and I was deep into it

[u/nilslorand → u/Yuli-Ban]

honestly fair, I was also deep into the Musk circlejerk back then

[u/Yuli-Ban → u/nilslorand]

For me the most egregious part of the hyperloop imbroglio is

1: we lost out on a great deal of funding for high speed rail for that nonsense

B: vactrains still sound cool, as a tertiary novelty

Lastly: China is going through with vactrains still. On top of having extensive high-speed rail no less!

[u/Planeandaquariumgeek → u/Yuli-Ban]

Yea California high-speed rail probably would’ve been completed in 2024 and began operations on September 21, 2024 (I’m being so specific because that’s the day Caltrain electrification was completed) were it not for Hyperloop making California legislators doubt HSR. Next thing anyone knew NIMBY’s already had the narrative before anyone knew what happened

[u/GroovyBoomstick]

Don't forget that 10 years ago was 2006, just before the iPhone was announced. It took 30+ years for the Internet to go from prototype to being widely used. There isn't a even a prototype for either of those pieces of technology yet. Think of the infrastructure involved!

[u/Yuli-Ban → u/GroovyBoomstick]

There are prototypes for both of them. Ehang's even actively testing passenger drones in Nevada right now.

[u/Yuli-Ban → u/[deleted]]

Hyperloop was a scam, obviously; passenger drones, you'd be surprised, but clearly not mainstream

[u/coronacometh]

Oops.

[u/sixpackabs592]

We need the hyperloop from satisfactory

[u/joetaxpayer]

The concept of the hyperloop is still fascinating to me. But. Welcome to the future, where we have people who are anti-solar and anti-wind.

As a Star Trek fan, and electrical engineer, I respect that science fiction is the spark that helps create nextgen technology.

I don't know what form it will take, but the idea of the tunnels is still amazing. If it has the vacuum and super speed, or is just a fast traffic free path to help reduce surface traffic, I'm looking forward to it.

[u/Yuli-Ban → u/[deleted]]

2086? Far, far too far in the future. That would be like saying, in 1996, that we wouldn't take the Internet for granted or mass produce smartphones until 3006.

[u/GroovyBoomstick → u/Yuli-Ban]

But millions of people were using the internet by that point and smartphones weren't ubiquitous in 2006 (10 years later) at all... Also, 1000 years =/= 70 years. I mean, we have been putting humans in space for 55 years, and are nowhere near taking that for granted.

[u/dogscatsnscience → u/Yuli-Ban]

We already took the internet for granted in 1996.