I frequently wonder where inspiration comes from. Sometimes the future is obvious to minds open enough to see it. Is that all it takes, or is something else at work?
Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Nikola Tesla's Prediction
I frequently wonder where inspiration comes from. Sometimes the future is obvious to minds open enough to see it. Is that all it takes, or is something else at work?
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
still, have we not thought about many futuristic things even as kids? the trick is to work it out.
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Way back in the late 1970's I went with my brother to an electronics exposition in China. This alone was interesting because 90% of the exhibitors were from Japan, and all but a few of the promoters spoke perfect English.
We saw things which would be released later that year, in the next few years, and within the next decade.
As always, Money is what dictates when they will release something to the public.
They had already developed, for example, DVDs, but CDs had not yet been released for sale.
DVDs would be held back until they recouped their costs of developing the CDs.
This was just one of many items we saw there, some of which have not been released to the public yet forty years later.
There were many competitors there, each with their own new technology for now, and for later. But which ones would take hold and fly, and which ones would fade away?
Sorta like, which one would people favor, BetaMax or VHS? VHS won and BetaMax faded away.
When we were just getting a glimpse of Trash-80s and the Apple II, Apple II+ and Lisa were already in production.
I owned a pizza restaurant at the time, so devoted my attention to the new instant ovens. Although the ovens cost an arm and leg, they consumed little to no energy to operate. No three hour heat up time, etc.
They cooked almost instantly using a flash of light. You could not tell the difference between a pizza cooked in a standard pizza oven, over one cooked instantly in the flash oven. Had the same golden tan on the crust.
The promoters said they would be making smaller models, and some day, these flash ovens would replace microwave ovens.
This was over forty years ago. What happened? Where are they? I guess the technology was abandoned for some reason.
We also saw men's shavers that had no blades. Like on a StarTrek show, a simple blue light emitted from the device obliterated all facial hair it touched. I don't know how it worked, but it did not burn hair. They made a point of proving that by actually burning some hair so you knew what burned hair smelled like.
I actually loved this promoters talk. He said current day electronic shavers could be compared to the worst rotary lawn mowers every made. Would you buy a rotary lawn mower if you had to go over your lawn five to ten times to get the grass mowed.
Then why would you buy a shaver that you have to keep going back and forth over the same area of your face to get all the whiskers removed, and they leave stubble behind.
With our new facial hair remover, you have no razor burn, and no stubble left behind, with only one pass. It does not burn your hair or your skin, and leaves no irritation as all other shaving methods.
This too was forty years ago. Where is it? I think I saw something similar for women, but it can burn.
Like Tesla said, communications devices would fit in your pocket. What he didn't visualize was one that get glued to the back of a tooth or an implant the size of a pin head embedded in your ear canal. Those things are coming, some day.
Along with the transmission of electric without wires.
We saw things which would be released later that year, in the next few years, and within the next decade.
As always, Money is what dictates when they will release something to the public.
They had already developed, for example, DVDs, but CDs had not yet been released for sale.
DVDs would be held back until they recouped their costs of developing the CDs.
This was just one of many items we saw there, some of which have not been released to the public yet forty years later.
There were many competitors there, each with their own new technology for now, and for later. But which ones would take hold and fly, and which ones would fade away?
Sorta like, which one would people favor, BetaMax or VHS? VHS won and BetaMax faded away.
When we were just getting a glimpse of Trash-80s and the Apple II, Apple II+ and Lisa were already in production.
I owned a pizza restaurant at the time, so devoted my attention to the new instant ovens. Although the ovens cost an arm and leg, they consumed little to no energy to operate. No three hour heat up time, etc.
They cooked almost instantly using a flash of light. You could not tell the difference between a pizza cooked in a standard pizza oven, over one cooked instantly in the flash oven. Had the same golden tan on the crust.
The promoters said they would be making smaller models, and some day, these flash ovens would replace microwave ovens.
This was over forty years ago. What happened? Where are they? I guess the technology was abandoned for some reason.
We also saw men's shavers that had no blades. Like on a StarTrek show, a simple blue light emitted from the device obliterated all facial hair it touched. I don't know how it worked, but it did not burn hair. They made a point of proving that by actually burning some hair so you knew what burned hair smelled like.
I actually loved this promoters talk. He said current day electronic shavers could be compared to the worst rotary lawn mowers every made. Would you buy a rotary lawn mower if you had to go over your lawn five to ten times to get the grass mowed.
Then why would you buy a shaver that you have to keep going back and forth over the same area of your face to get all the whiskers removed, and they leave stubble behind.
With our new facial hair remover, you have no razor burn, and no stubble left behind, with only one pass. It does not burn your hair or your skin, and leaves no irritation as all other shaving methods.
This too was forty years ago. Where is it? I think I saw something similar for women, but it can burn.
Like Tesla said, communications devices would fit in your pocket. What he didn't visualize was one that get glued to the back of a tooth or an implant the size of a pin head embedded in your ear canal. Those things are coming, some day.
Along with the transmission of electric without wires.
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Icey
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
I can't think of anything definite that couldn't possibly become real in years to come. Everything we imagine now, will be used or become available in some form or other.
Those shavers you're on about Gary - might be the NoNo's that men and women use today, both expressing various results from good to bad, but there are several types of home electrolysis kits that you can buy as well.
Those shavers you're on about Gary - might be the NoNo's that men and women use today, both expressing various results from good to bad, but there are several types of home electrolysis kits that you can buy as well.
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Hi Icey
One thing we won't see in our lifetime, but the technologies to do so are currently on the drawing boards, are complete homes built in a matter of minutes, and includes everything a home must have, and more of things that don't yet exist.
Tired of your walls being beige, push a button and select a new color, or set it to change to selected colors for morning, noon, or night.
Forgot to pick up something at the store, if you even bother going to a store anymore, just select the item and it will appear in your delivery box within minutes.
Although you could design yourself a fancy car, most people use direct transportation pods. Need to get your kids off to school at three different schools. Let them hop in a pod that takes them directly there and directly home.
Sonic tubes will carry passengers from any major city in the US to any major city in Europe, the UK, or elsewhere, often in under an hour, only fifteen minutes to most destinations around the globe.
As technology advances further, money will become obsolete, due to an inability to control same. All forms of currency could be replicated by almost anyone at any time. There will be a great upheaval in all nations as the world goes from spending to everything being free everywhere. Why shouldn't it be? No one works anymore, some machines handle all forms of labor and manufacturing. The big thing of the future is finding some form of entertainment to keep everyone busy enjoying themselves.
Even the big shots will fade away as machines are used to build machines.
Almost all crime will cease, because no one will want for anything. Who will spend the energy to rob someone when they can push a button and get it instantly for free anyhow?
We also won't have any waste to worry about, because everything is recycled, with most items broke down to their individual chemical components and reused to make new stuff. Many items will be made on-site. You would like a new sofa, you pick a design and where you want it placed in your house, and the sofa machine company zaps out your old one, and places the new one in its place. Perhaps the technology will advance so far, you won't even have to get out of the old sofa as the new one takes its place, hi hi...
Think about it! Less than twenty years ago, a hard drive took up a three foot square and only held about 500 Mb. Today we have a little device half the size of a lipstick tube that holds 50 Gb of data or more, and with instant access. In another year or so, a device no larger than an eraser at the end of a pencil will hold more data than all the combined libraries in the world.
And I don't doubt that someday, such a device will be implanted in our brain so we have all the info in the whole wide world accessible by only a thought to retrieve it, error free too!
Look at how technology advanced in the past fifty years, and the rate at which we are developing even better technologies.
What will it be like within another fifty years? Things we couldn't even dream of today, not even with all our SciFi expectations.
One thing we won't see in our lifetime, but the technologies to do so are currently on the drawing boards, are complete homes built in a matter of minutes, and includes everything a home must have, and more of things that don't yet exist.
Tired of your walls being beige, push a button and select a new color, or set it to change to selected colors for morning, noon, or night.
Forgot to pick up something at the store, if you even bother going to a store anymore, just select the item and it will appear in your delivery box within minutes.
Although you could design yourself a fancy car, most people use direct transportation pods. Need to get your kids off to school at three different schools. Let them hop in a pod that takes them directly there and directly home.
Sonic tubes will carry passengers from any major city in the US to any major city in Europe, the UK, or elsewhere, often in under an hour, only fifteen minutes to most destinations around the globe.
As technology advances further, money will become obsolete, due to an inability to control same. All forms of currency could be replicated by almost anyone at any time. There will be a great upheaval in all nations as the world goes from spending to everything being free everywhere. Why shouldn't it be? No one works anymore, some machines handle all forms of labor and manufacturing. The big thing of the future is finding some form of entertainment to keep everyone busy enjoying themselves.
Even the big shots will fade away as machines are used to build machines.
Almost all crime will cease, because no one will want for anything. Who will spend the energy to rob someone when they can push a button and get it instantly for free anyhow?
We also won't have any waste to worry about, because everything is recycled, with most items broke down to their individual chemical components and reused to make new stuff. Many items will be made on-site. You would like a new sofa, you pick a design and where you want it placed in your house, and the sofa machine company zaps out your old one, and places the new one in its place. Perhaps the technology will advance so far, you won't even have to get out of the old sofa as the new one takes its place, hi hi...
Think about it! Less than twenty years ago, a hard drive took up a three foot square and only held about 500 Mb. Today we have a little device half the size of a lipstick tube that holds 50 Gb of data or more, and with instant access. In another year or so, a device no larger than an eraser at the end of a pencil will hold more data than all the combined libraries in the world.
And I don't doubt that someday, such a device will be implanted in our brain so we have all the info in the whole wide world accessible by only a thought to retrieve it, error free too!
Look at how technology advanced in the past fifty years, and the rate at which we are developing even better technologies.
What will it be like within another fifty years? Things we couldn't even dream of today, not even with all our SciFi expectations.
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Icey
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
I agree with you. Tomorrow's world's going to be the mere imagination of today.
Had to smile about homes that could be made in a matter of minutes. We're getting there with that one! Only today I was reading about a 4-bed eco house that a couple've had built for their retirement. The whole lot, including the land and the total build came to about £400,000 - a snip at today's prices. Two days after ordering their "snap together" home, they stepped inside it. The whole place was delivered in segments, with the walls being fully wired, and to include an outside tap. The couple're delighted with it, especially as the interior walls and paintwork came in their pre-chosen colours.They might want to wait a bit before changing their minds, but I don't think the day's too far off. : )
Had to smile about homes that could be made in a matter of minutes. We're getting there with that one! Only today I was reading about a 4-bed eco house that a couple've had built for their retirement. The whole lot, including the land and the total build came to about £400,000 - a snip at today's prices. Two days after ordering their "snap together" home, they stepped inside it. The whole place was delivered in segments, with the walls being fully wired, and to include an outside tap. The couple're delighted with it, especially as the interior walls and paintwork came in their pre-chosen colours.They might want to wait a bit before changing their minds, but I don't think the day's too far off. : )
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
I wasn't actually thinking of pre-fab homes, but you do have a good point there Icey.
I was thinking more of homes built using 3D laser technology to create the components of the house in-place where they belong.
Similar to using lasers in a tank of plastic to create items, but in 3D not by layering, and it would include the necessary metals.
Only instead of in a tank, it would be done in the air by introducing the necessary ingredients at the points needed before the laser beams cross to make the components.
Who would have thought only a few years ago that entire hip replacements would be custom made in a fish tank in minutes.
I can see this moving forward to eliminating the fish tank and rebuilding a hip inside the body without surgery.
Amazing things can already be done with multiple lasers focused on the same spot, and moving from spot to spot faster than the speed of sound. I've seen twin beam lasers in operation, and you've probably seen the results of these devices in glass trinkets you can buy with an image inside the glass. Ironically, the lasers that do this are considered cheap toys compared to the industrial lasers already in use for many other things.
We often think the entire laser beam as a hot cutting device, but this is not necessarily so. A laser can be adjusted and controlled to the point, well, like the pointer lasers, you don't feel them, and the cat loves to chase them around.
They won't hurt anything except your eyes. But add just a wee bit more power, and use more than one laser beam from different angles, and where the beams of light intersect, then they have the combined power of each to do what was intended.
I think some day in the near future we will see laser powered lawn mowers, and possible even tree trimmers who work from the ground pointing two or three laser beams to lop of small pieces of branches until they bring an entire tree down. Add a few more years and pre-programmed tree trimmers will probably be available to rent at your local hardware store, hi hi...
I was thinking more of homes built using 3D laser technology to create the components of the house in-place where they belong.
Similar to using lasers in a tank of plastic to create items, but in 3D not by layering, and it would include the necessary metals.
Only instead of in a tank, it would be done in the air by introducing the necessary ingredients at the points needed before the laser beams cross to make the components.
Who would have thought only a few years ago that entire hip replacements would be custom made in a fish tank in minutes.
I can see this moving forward to eliminating the fish tank and rebuilding a hip inside the body without surgery.
Amazing things can already be done with multiple lasers focused on the same spot, and moving from spot to spot faster than the speed of sound. I've seen twin beam lasers in operation, and you've probably seen the results of these devices in glass trinkets you can buy with an image inside the glass. Ironically, the lasers that do this are considered cheap toys compared to the industrial lasers already in use for many other things.
We often think the entire laser beam as a hot cutting device, but this is not necessarily so. A laser can be adjusted and controlled to the point, well, like the pointer lasers, you don't feel them, and the cat loves to chase them around.
They won't hurt anything except your eyes. But add just a wee bit more power, and use more than one laser beam from different angles, and where the beams of light intersect, then they have the combined power of each to do what was intended.
I think some day in the near future we will see laser powered lawn mowers, and possible even tree trimmers who work from the ground pointing two or three laser beams to lop of small pieces of branches until they bring an entire tree down. Add a few more years and pre-programmed tree trimmers will probably be available to rent at your local hardware store, hi hi...
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Icey
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Ah - sorry I wasn't quite on the same wavelength Gary, but yes, I can appreciate what you mean. I don't think we're too faraway from any of the futuristic things you've mentioned.
I'd like to witness a laser beam felling a tree, but on the other hand, it's much more fun to chop off branches manually, and saw through a trunk to bring it down. : )
I'd like to witness a laser beam felling a tree, but on the other hand, it's much more fun to chop off branches manually, and saw through a trunk to bring it down. : )
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Grandpa had a large tree with a lot of dead wood between his house and tack room.
He was worried some of those branches would come crashing through his roof.
Tree removal companies wanted way too much money to cut it back, and also said the branches were too big to take down without going out on a limb to divide them up and get them down safely, which added to the price.
Where he lived, with over 100 wooded acres beyond he got out a couple of his shotguns, just to see if he could do some end trimming himself. He picked a dead limb, took aim about three feet in from the tip, and brought that sucker down in one shot. Then switched to a larger shotgun and brought down the next three foot long piece in two shots. He didn't miss, the branch was just a bit thicker than he planned. Before trying to get the next section of branch down, he waiting and picked up a different type of shotgun shell, and used a shotgun with a full-choke I think he said. I don't know a whole lot about shotguns.
He trimmed most of the dead out of that tree using only three different types of shotguns, then used a line saw to trim the stubs closer to the trunk. He got the first line saw stuck, because it was too coarse, but the one a bit finer did the job.
A line saw is a flexible saw that looks sorta like a wire with teeth. About 2-1/2 feet long, to which you affix a rope to each end to pull it back and forth to saw. He used a slingshot to shoot smaller line up over the branch to pull the roped line saw up.
Grandpa could shoot the nose off the Clabber girl's picture on a can 100 feet away with his slingshot.
He was worried some of those branches would come crashing through his roof.
Tree removal companies wanted way too much money to cut it back, and also said the branches were too big to take down without going out on a limb to divide them up and get them down safely, which added to the price.
Where he lived, with over 100 wooded acres beyond he got out a couple of his shotguns, just to see if he could do some end trimming himself. He picked a dead limb, took aim about three feet in from the tip, and brought that sucker down in one shot. Then switched to a larger shotgun and brought down the next three foot long piece in two shots. He didn't miss, the branch was just a bit thicker than he planned. Before trying to get the next section of branch down, he waiting and picked up a different type of shotgun shell, and used a shotgun with a full-choke I think he said. I don't know a whole lot about shotguns.
He trimmed most of the dead out of that tree using only three different types of shotguns, then used a line saw to trim the stubs closer to the trunk. He got the first line saw stuck, because it was too coarse, but the one a bit finer did the job.
A line saw is a flexible saw that looks sorta like a wire with teeth. About 2-1/2 feet long, to which you affix a rope to each end to pull it back and forth to saw. He used a slingshot to shoot smaller line up over the branch to pull the roped line saw up.
Grandpa could shoot the nose off the Clabber girl's picture on a can 100 feet away with his slingshot.
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Icey
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
*Grandpa could shoot the nose off the Clabber girl's picture on a can 100 feet away with his slingshot.
Ha ha ha!!!! Brilliant.
Yes, tree fellers charge the earth to chop trees down, but it can be an iffy job if they're literally out on a limb to get rid of unwanted branches first. I've watched the men in action in wooded areas, where a large diseased or dangerous tree's needed to come down. It's fascinating how the guys work out the exact angle that the trunk's going to fall at, taking into account not to let it crash into surrounding trees.
Ha ha ha!!!! Brilliant.
Yes, tree fellers charge the earth to chop trees down, but it can be an iffy job if they're literally out on a limb to get rid of unwanted branches first. I've watched the men in action in wooded areas, where a large diseased or dangerous tree's needed to come down. It's fascinating how the guys work out the exact angle that the trunk's going to fall at, taking into account not to let it crash into surrounding trees.
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
When I lived back home, I never had to worry about tree trimming.
I had a cousin who did just that for the parks department, and owned all his own gear.
So if we needed some work done to a tree, he would swing by and do it for us.
If we needed some major work done, or an entire tree taken down, he would bring a couple of helpers, so then it cost us a little, but nothing near what tree trimmers charge.
I learned a lot of tricks from my grandpa that saved me a lot of money over the years.
Can't use a shotgun here, but we can use the rope line saws. It may take me ten shots to get the rope in the right place, but once I do, I can drop a limb with little effort. That was before I had these heart attacks and now can't do much of anything except sit around. Sure glad we have the Internet and computers or I would go bonkers.
I had a cousin who did just that for the parks department, and owned all his own gear.
So if we needed some work done to a tree, he would swing by and do it for us.
If we needed some major work done, or an entire tree taken down, he would bring a couple of helpers, so then it cost us a little, but nothing near what tree trimmers charge.
I learned a lot of tricks from my grandpa that saved me a lot of money over the years.
Can't use a shotgun here, but we can use the rope line saws. It may take me ten shots to get the rope in the right place, but once I do, I can drop a limb with little effort. That was before I had these heart attacks and now can't do much of anything except sit around. Sure glad we have the Internet and computers or I would go bonkers.
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
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Icey
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Same here Gary. You've seen and done some excellent things. You may not be so active now, but at least you've done far more than many other people.
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Comes from being Poor, hi hi... If you can't afford to have it done, you have to learn to do it yourself, and then master the trade to get it perfect.
Maybe it was because I was hyper and always needed to be doing something, and got bored with doing the same thing?
Maybe it was because I was hyper and always needed to be doing something, and got bored with doing the same thing?
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
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Icey
Re: Nikola Tesla's Prediction
Yes - as in not even remotely (ever) exciting company. It's just one way of using the word, Vikks. x