[Mac Zealot]

It sucks.

We're still using, essentially, the same technology in cars that's been around for the past 100 years.

Lemme elaborate:

*They're still made of metal.
*They still burn gassoline.
*They're still clunky, repulsive, and well, primitive.

And a typical everyday person STILL CAN'T get off this planet.

What a primitive world we live in.

You'd think by now, we'd have high speed trains linking every part of the world you'd want to be in (making planes obselete). (But it won't happen until around 2060).

You'd also think regular people could visit other parts of the galaxy. (Won't be possible for another 400+ years at this rate.)

And there's also the fact that almost 90% (or is it higher) of desktop machines still have CRT monitors (a technology introduced well over 80 years ago.), and electricity still stinks.

And what about the fact internet is so slow and getting vaguely overpriced? What about holographic displays? Why is everything so far behind.

I'm begining to feel like we live in 1910 or something.

*sigh*

I mean, really, look how slow the world is evolving.. I bet by now if there are other life forms in the universe they're looking at us and laughing hysterically because we're so far behind.

[dillerX]

Bad day?

[D'Espice]

Probably

[Ozmodiar]

if it weren't for the stretch of no cultural or scientific development between 500 and 1300 AD, then yes we would probably be making regular trips to Mars, and the Centuarians would be Earth's biggest trading partner.

Thanks to the plague, though, by 1420 humans were back on track. Maybe we should wipe out half the population again and see what happens?

[Axo1ot1]

Hey! You stole my thread-naming nomenclature!

I agree. My DSL is insanely slow. I hate it. Why cant I have a fiber optic connection?

[ringo]

Be happy we're still moving forward.
In the dark ages, we forgot how to make glass...can you imagine?

[nonhuman]

Originally posted by Ozmodiar:
Maybe we should wipe out half the population again and see what happens?

I'm on it.

[beb]

I still really don't know how to make glass. What I'd really like to know is how to make a really great cup of coffee.

[Eug]

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
We're still using, essentially, the same technology in cars that's been around for the past 100 years.

Lemme elaborate:

*They're still made of metal.
*They still burn gassoline.
*They're still clunky, repulsive, and well, primitive.

And there's also the fact that almost 90% (or is it higher) of desktop machines still have CRT monitors (a technology introduced well over 80 years ago.), and electricity still stinks.

And what about the fact internet is so slow and getting vaguely overpriced?

Well, if it makes you feel any better, my car runs on gas only some of the time, my desktop uses an LCD monitor, and I pay < US$30 a month for my 1 Mbps DSL.

[--Helen--]

-Really?

[Eug]

Originally posted by --Helen--:
-Really?

Dunno if you're talking to me but if so then yes, really.

[beb]

No, Eug sorry, Helen and I've had this little arguement over who broke the coffeemaker. I still say she did it.

[Nimisys]

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
It sucks.

We're still using, essentially, the same technology in cars that's been around for the past 100 years.

Lemme elaborate:

*They're still made of metal.
*They still burn gassoline.
*They're still clunky, repulsive, and well, primitive.

yes made of metal, along with increasing amoutns of plastics, ceramics and other materials. blocks have gone from iron to aluminum. besides whats the problem with them using metal, as it is all recyclable and reused.

still burn gas, yes. along with other hydrocarbons. and emmissions from modern cars are so low it is amazing. hell the gas cap on your car when in working order ( all seals intact, no outside venting) will lower the hydrocarbon emissions of a vehicle by 20%. the EGR system all but ellminates NOx (oxides of nitrogen) ewmissions as well. the modrern vehcile will have emit fewer PPM of NOx or CO than what is in the air going into the engine. in fact modern vehicles are built to produce the most amount of H20 and CO2 possible in their combustion chambers. those are the products of perfect combustion.

as for your third point i would suggest you take an automotive class and get a clue. since the wide spread adoption of fuel injection(1992 was the last year a carberated car was offered) we are on the third generation of injectors. you got throttle by wire, brake assist, speed sensitive steering, etc. the technology may look the same to you, but once you know whats going on under their you would see different.

[istallion]

This is so silly. All our current doodads work just fine! What we need is more resources poured into defense, the 'war on drugs', and designs to make SUV's larger. Bush's endorsement of the stars wars program is a great start. We should also recruit more crumblng nations to help the U.S. with the International Space Station. Russia's participation has been fantastic!

[Mac Zealot]

Originally posted by Nimisys:


yes made of metal, along with increasing amoutns of plastics, ceramics and other materials. blocks have gone from iron to aluminum. besides whats the problem with them using metal, as it is all recyclable and reused.

still burn gas, yes. along with other hydrocarbons. and emmissions from modern cars are so low it is amazing. hell the gas cap on your car when in working order ( all seals intact, no outside venting) will lower the hydrocarbon emissions of a vehicle by 20%. the EGR system all but ellminates NOx (oxides of nitrogen) ewmissions as well. the modrern vehcile will have emit fewer PPM of NOx or CO than what is in the air going into the engine. in fact modern vehicles are built to produce the most amount of H20 and CO2 possible in their combustion chambers. those are the products of perfect combustion.

as for your third point i would suggest you take an automotive class and get a clue. since the wide spread adoption of fuel injection(1992 was the last year a carberated car was offered) we are on the third generation of injectors. you got throttle by wire, brake assist, speed sensitive steering, etc. the technology may look the same to you, but once you know whats going on under their you would see different.

Nemesis: You sound like a car dealer

[beb]

It's a strange little world we all live in. I still say it's flat.

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
It sucks.

We're still using, essentially, the same technology in cars that's been around for the past 100 years.

Lemme elaborate:

*They're still made of metal.
*They still burn gassoline.
*They're still clunky, repulsive, and well, primitive.

And a typical everyday person STILL CAN'T get off this planet.

What a primitive world we live in.

You'd think by now, we'd have high speed trains linking every part of the world you'd want to be in (making planes obselete). (But it won't happen until around 2060).

You'd also think regular people could visit other parts of the galaxy. (Won't be possible for another 400+ years at this rate.)

And there's also the fact that almost 90% (or is it higher) of desktop machines still have CRT monitors (a technology introduced well over 80 years ago.), and electricity still stinks.

And what about the fact internet is so slow and getting vaguely overpriced? What about holographic displays? Why is everything so far behind.

I'm begining to feel like we live in 1910 or something.

*sigh*

I mean, really, look how slow the world is evolving.. I bet by now if there are other life forms in the universe they're looking at us and laughing hysterically because we're so far behind.

Blame the fall of Rome.

Other than that, all I have to say is... your ignorance is stunning.

[iNub]

We've made more technological advances in the last hundred years than we made for a thousand before that. Shall I list a few of them?

Transistors
Automobiles
Nuclear fission
Space exploration
Radio
Flight
and, of course, the most important invention of all...
Silly Putty

[Sven G]

I think that one of the reasons (very irrational "reasons", BTW, leading also to the destruction of the environment) technology doesn't advance in "revolutionary" ways anymore is because there hasn't been a parallel ethical r/evolution together with the scientific/technological one: so we are stuck with refining the existing due to lack of humanistic ideals and artistic/social interactions with the scientific and technical. In a few words, science and technology have become submitted to bu$ine$$ - when it should rather be the other way!

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by Sven G:
I think that one of the reasons (very irrational "reasons", BTW, leading also to the destruction of the environment) technology doesn't advance in "revolutionary" ways anymore is because there hasn't been a parallel ethical r/evolution together with the scientific/technological one: so we are stuck with refining the existing due to lack of humanistic ideals and artistic/social interactions with the scientific and technical. In a few words, science and technology have become submitted to bu$ine$$ - when it should rather be the other way!

War spurs technological advance, for one thing.

Medical advances, rather importantly; war, or dire circumstances. The Black Plague, for example.

It's quite a shame that war is such a necessity. The only time we, as a race, are at our best... is when we're at our worst.

It's funny to think - where would we be without war?

Consider these two points:

1. War is one of the main reasons for fast technological advance.
2. War is the reason the technology of Rome was lost; the technology of the Persian empire; the technology of the Egyptian empire; the technology of the Hittite empire; and so forth. War is the reason that New York city in the 1700's resembled Rome in its early years.

"It seems that nature is not without a sense of irony".

Human nature, that is.

[Sven G]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
Human nature, that is.

Well... It's exactly the so-called "human nature" that should undergo a radical change in our times - and, together with it, also technology. There must be some way to "advance" also without wars, etc.

Your example made me think of one thing, BTW... Maybe war, etc. are just delirious, desperate ways of producing the necessary "progress" and due to the fact that "human nature" is repressed, confined and segregated within oppressive institutions (the same that favor war, and, of course, also partially created by people themselves to avoid the responsibility of self-management!): a sort of collective schizo-paranoia, if one can say so. I'm led to think that without those institutions, if human beings allowed themselves to freely and voluntarily collaborate in the development of spirituality, art, science and technology, there could be far better advancements (also and above all from a qualitative point of view), in much more useful and direct ways, and in relative harmony with nature.

But, again, it's the way we think and behave that should change - not easy, but definitely not impossible, either!