Where Are The Edges Of Today's Technology World?

Veeru writes "As mentioned on Nova, my great-great-grandfather Amos Ives Root published the first eye witness account of the Wright Brothers flight almost 100 years ago. Scientific American had rejected his article as 'unbelievable' and 'having no practical application'. The secretive Wright Brothers allowed Amos to publish the article in his own Gleanings Bee magazine instead. Because of his objective account, other experimenters may not have received the credit they deserved. I recently realized that Amos was intent on investigating the highest tech advances of the day and that the airplane was the most advanced phenomenon he could find. If Amos were alive today, what obscure technology would he be pursuing?"

Comments

Amos's interests in the 21st centure

[atommoore]

Well, if your grandfather were still alive today, I imagine he would be most interested medical technology.

specifically, in the next generation of Viagra, Rogaine, and the technology to keep human heads alive in jars as foretold by Futurama.

Obscure technologies

[Anonymous Coward]

.NET

Moderation

[gantzm]

As mentioned on Nova, my great-great-grandfather Amos Ives Root published the first eye witness account of the Wright Brothers flight almost 100 years ago.

Score:-1 Buffing my own pole.

The fringes of the neo-techno age

[dankdirk77]

I think Billy the Bigmouth talking bass would really blow that dudes mind...

Re:Time travel

[Fjornir]

Why the fuck would anyone want to come here/now?

Re:Time travel

[Terragen]

Haven't you ever seen Star Trek IV?

They're all back in 1986.

Re:Promises...

[gantzm]

Gliding is just falling gracefully.

Re:The real edge lies elsewhere...

[sisukapalli1]

The technologies of the last 200 years have so far outstripped past human progress that the real action in the coming years/decades/centuries will be the philosophical, moral and political assimilation of technology. We've done an increasintly poor job of it as the pace of advancement has quickened;

Do you mean to suggest that Reality TV, Hum-vees, DRM, 150 year plus copyrights, mini-nukes, "intellectual property rights", and "Fair and Balanced News" aren't the right philosophical and moral ways to utilize technology? S

Re:Time travel

[Anonymous Coward]

"but am sure the slashdot effect can find the specifics"

No, the Slashdot effect is akin to quantum mechanics in that as soon as you try to look at something, it disappears.

No lasers required...

Unbelievable article rejected

[Afrosheen]

Scientific American had rejected his article as 'unbelievable' and 'having no practical application'.

Hmmm, and you are the great-great-grandson of Mr. Root? I wonder...the reason why all of my good slashdot story submissions get bounced every freakin' time. Maybe CmdrTaco and pals are the great-great-grandsons of those same Scientific American editors!

Re:Time travel

[SuperMo0]

To see what Bob Barker looked like when it wasn't OBVIOUS that he was a reanimated corpse.

I'M ONTO YOU, BARKER!

Innovation? Segway already changed the world!

[Solarbeat]

Remember? It really wasn't that long ago that Segway came out and changed the way we travel, changed the way we planned cities, and created world peace! We don't need any more stinkin innovation!

Re:Sage Words

[BiggerIsBetter]

This may seem obvious to us today...

Apparently not:

• http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_619929.html?m enu=
• http://www.washtimes.com/business/20030618-102505- 9841r.htm
• http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,3720 2-1065196740,00.html

Feel free to mod this +1 Scary.

Re:What if they send back a swastika?

[Usquebaugh]

I'm for the screwing with people in the past idea :-)

"Buy all the SCOX stock you can"

"Bush is a noble leader, vote for him"

"Liver and kidneys every day increase lifespan 300%"

That's the sort of stuff I'd be sending :-)

Re:Promises...

[Thing 1]

What would you have posted a hundred years ago, on the subject of flight?

Help, I'm dying of polio!

Re:Time travel

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Stop dropping hints to these primatives or I'm going to have to report you to the Continuity Monitors.

Never heard of Google?

[theonetruekeebler]

According to Google, the Center of the Known Universe is here, in Muncie, Indiana.

On the other hand, the Centre of the Known Universe is here, in some podunk called Rockall (motto: "There's fuck all in Rockall").

Cherokee Indians claim that the Center of the World (and therefore the known universe) is about ten miles north-northwest of Elberton, Georgia, near a bizarre roadside attraction called the Georgia Guidestones.

According to my deranged ex-fiancee, however, the center of the known universe is wherever the hell she happens to be at the moment. In other words, the center of the known universe is underneath whatever guy she met not twenty minutes ago.

So opinions vary, as do spellings. Personally, I'm going to agree with the aboriginal Americans, because I can get there in about two hours. See, there's nothing like being near the CotKU without actually having to be there. It's kinda like being in the suburbs.

Re:The edge?

[JAZ]

Whoohoo! Karma bonus!

The word "bonus" started a new sentence and should have been capitalized.