« Drive, He Said.... | Main | Drive, He Said (Part II) »

It Helps if you hum "The Blue Danube"

787_interior.JPG
Boeing 787 Interior

One of my great frustrations with the modern age comes from the expectations for the future that were set as part of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. To me, that was what the future was supposed to be. Nuclear powered Space Shuttles, big space stations, moonbases, the whole bit. It looked nice, it looked clean. Most importantly, it looked fun.

Reality turned out somewhat different than that of what Kubrick proposed. Most thankfully, there was no Soviet Union in 2001, but in almost every other area the future that turned out to be was a whole lot less exciting than the future that the filmed projected on to our sense of "how things should be".

Now I know that Boeing Commercial Airliners are not Nuclear Powered Space Shuttles, and were not talking about huge rotating Space Stations( So big as to be able to afford the expense of bother of having a Hilton Hotel on board), but take a few moments and visit the "Sneak Preview" for the three new Boeing Aircraft that are about to be released. Like I said, it will help set the mood if you hum the "Blue Danube".

Unlike the Airbus A380, the Boeing 787 will prove to be revolutionary, for the industry, the manufacturer and the passengers as well. This "Sneak Preview" should give you a sense for just how much this aircraft is going to be quite different than anything you've seen before.

Somehow I dont think that in 1968, Stanley Kubrick expected that the travelling public would be wearing sweatpants, t-shirts and carrying computers in backpacks either. The future is indeed a funny place...

Posted @ April 02, 2007 01:34 PM | Current Affairs

Comments

Most disappointingly missing from the reality?

Pan Am and TWA

Gonna go cry myself to sleep.

Posted by: TBinSTL at April 3, 2007 01:08 AM

While there are certainly downsides, there are things which balance. Terminator2 and The Matrix, Star Wars (1,2,3,4,5,6) and Spiderman, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings -- all provide a sense of the wonder of things which supplant that of 2001 -- which, most notably, did not even foresee the CRT, much less the flat-panel TV -- and most certainly did not see the personal computer (not the same cool-factor as HAL but a lot more personal impact) nor the internet, either...

We still live in an age of Magic, just not the same Magics as Kubrik foretold.

...Considering that his "flipside" -- what was happening down on Earth -- has been less than spectacularly prescient (i.e., A Clockwork Orange), perhaps that's a ***good thing***.
.
.
.

Posted by: Vittles at April 18, 2007 01:25 AM