It always feels like some form of VR tech comes out with some sort of fanfare and with a promise it will take over the world, but it never does.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    22 days ago

    Flying cars. The idea has intuitive appeal — just drive like normal, but most congestion problems go away!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_car

    We’ve made them, but the tradeoffs that you have to make to get a good road vehicle that is also a good aircraft are very large. The benefits of having a dual-mode vehicle are comparatively limited. I think that absent some kind of dramatic technological revolution, like, I don’t know, making the things out of nanites, we’ll just always be better off with dedicated vehicles of the first sort or the second.

    Maybe we could have call-on-demand aircraft that could air-ferry ground vehicles, but I think that with something on the order of current technology, that’s probably as close as we’ll get.

    • bob_lemon@feddit.org
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      22 days ago

      Flying cars lose al appeal the moment you encounter other drivers on the road. Just imagine that, but flying.

    • flabbergast@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      I don’t think any government will ever allow flying cars.
      Too prone for accidents, and way too much freedom.

    • Limerance@piefed.social
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      21 days ago

      There are many models of flying cars. They usually are bad cars and bad planes and very expensive. Only good for niche wealthy enthusiasts.