
Ask HN: Do you feel like you live in the future? - Errorcod3
I was walking through the parking lot at work and a car moves silently past me, and I got the feeling that I am in the future with everyone walking around with computer screens in their hands and cars with mysterious propulsion.
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a3n
I sometimes feel like I'm living in the world of the movie Brazil, a nightmare
of bureaucracy and thuggish government with sprinklings of technological toys.
Artisanal bread and a circus in our pockets.

~~~
Errorcod3
I have never watch Brazil. Is it worth my time?

~~~
a3n
Yes. It's a warning about 2015, from 1985.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_%281985_film%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_%281985_film%29)

~~~
Errorcod3
Awesome, I will check that out tonight in-between viewing lectures.

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nosuchthing

      "We eat in restaurants, buy branded toiletries, build 
      skyscrapers, create legislative institutions, travel in 
      flying machines, write poetry, and search for meaning in 
      relationships, temples, and scientific books. Humans have 
      discovered antibiotics, sent probes into space, decimated 
      rainforests, shared a billion views of clips of kitten 
      behaviour, and decoded their own genomes.
    
    
      But there is one thing that humans have singularly failed 
      to do, and that is to properly understand their own behaviour. "
    
      — Robert Aunger and Valerie Curtis:
      Gaining Control: How human behavior evolved
    
    
    
    
      The Thirties had seen the first generation of American 
      industrial designers; until the Thirties, all pencil 
      sharpeners had looked like pencil sharpeners; your basic 
      Victorian mechanism, perhaps with a curlicue of 
      decorative trim. After the advent of the designers, some 
      pencil sharpeners looked as though they'd been put 
      together in wind tunnels. For the most part, the change 
      was only skin-deep; under the streamlined chrome shell, 
      you'd find the same Victorian mechanism. Which made a 
      certain kind of sense, because the most successful 
      American designers had been recruited from the ranks of 
      Broadway theater designers. It was all a stage set, a 
      series of elaborate props for playing at living in the 
      future. 
      - William Gibson

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LarryMade2
Yeah, here are some of my observations on it...

Artifical skylight: [http://twistedsifter.com/2015/02/scientists-develop-
artifici...](http://twistedsifter.com/2015/02/scientists-develop-artificial-
skylight-that-mimics-natural-light/)

Self Driving Cars [http://www.extremetech.com/tag/self-driving-
cars](http://www.extremetech.com/tag/self-driving-cars)

Hololens [http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7868251/microsoft-
hololens...](http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7868251/microsoft-hololens-
hologram-hands-on-experience)

Wikipedia/Google - look up just about anything within seconds

Siri/speech interface multi lingual live translation

Commercial space projects - Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX

Self driving cars, Electric Cars, drones, etc... list is growing.

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M8
No, future is when your body is just a replaceable peripheral device.
Everything is progressing so slowly at the moment :(.

~~~
Errorcod3
Going towards Deus Ex are we?

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codeonfire
There are a few things that I thought we would (should) have in the mainstream
based on science encyclopedias of long ago:

1\. Spaceplane - this was a big thing a while back and is no longer talkeda
bout. Military needs are what drove the technology for airliners, and there is
no longer a need for aircraft crews. So they built missile-like X planes
instead.

2\. Ocean thermal energy conversion - Is a big tower that sits in the ocean
and grabs energy from the differences in water temp. This was on the cover of
one of those kid's future science books. It hasn't been built that I know of.

3\. Robotic crop harvesting - I don't think these are here yet

4\. Bipedal robots - I think we are almost there but again, there are more
practical designs for military purposes.

5\. Robotic surgery, tele-presence surgery - not sure if this is a thing yet.

~~~
kylebennett
> 2\. Ocean thermal energy conversion - Is a big tower that sits in the ocean
> and grabs energy from the differences in water temp. This was on the cover
> of one of those kid's future science books. It hasn't been built that I know
> of.

There are demonstration units in existence, but other forms of energy are
still too cheap for now.

> 3\. Robotic crop harvesting - I don't think these are here yet

There are tech school programs for GPS controlled combines in the Midwest. Its
been around for about 10 years.

> 4\. Bipedal robots - I think we are almost there but again, there are more
> practical designs for military purposes.

Boston dynamics has this nailed down. Google acquired them last year, along
with 9 other major robotics firms, and are slowly discontinuing certain
military contracts if I understand correctly.

> 5\. Robotic surgery, tele-presence surgery - not sure if this is a thing
> yet.

This already exists. In fact, there was a TED talk in 2013 regarding a
telesurgical robot that gave haptic feedback with approximate pressures of
that area. Can't recall the presenter's name.

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dropit_sphere
A text I sent to a friend a few months ago:

"On shift on 5th and mission. A bus goes by with an ad: WHAT IF THE INTERNET
WAS FOR YOU? Mobile phones everywhere. I read this on MY mobile phone:
[http://popehat.com/2013/12/06/nock-hoon-etc-for-non-
vulcans-...](http://popehat.com/2013/12/06/nock-hoon-etc-for-non-vulcans-why-
urbit-matters/) All this while working as a contractor electronic valet. Feels
like a Stephenson novel."

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nathan_f77
Yep, even when I'm using my "old" iPhone 4S. It's an amazing piece of
technology, and weird to think that it's so dated now.

~~~
Errorcod3
An iPhone4S is old? I don't even know the differences on iPhones. I still have
an old tracfone which I can only call/text from.

I can not have electronics with me at my workplace, so for 8 hours of the day
I would not have it on me. Beyond that if I a home I have a computer and if I
am out of the house I am actively doing something so I see no need for
smartphones.

~~~
nathan_f77
It was released in October 2011, so it's almost 4 years old now. Still going
strong, and runs the latest version of iOS (8), but it does feel a bit slow.
The screen also feels a bit small, especially compared to my wife's iPhone 6.

No electronics at your workplace? That's an interesting policy. Is it
something to do with security, or they just want you to focus on work?

Here's why I love having a smartphone. It's changed the way I:

* take notes (Evernote) and make todo lists (Wunderlist)

* communicate with friends & family (WhatsApp, Messenger), and teammates (Slack)

* get directions (Google Maps, Maps.me)

* manage travel and accommodation (Uber, AirBnb)

* translate conversations and menus overseas (Google Translate, WordLens)

* learn new languages (DuoLingo)

* take photos and videos - which are automatically synced and backed up on iCloud

* secure my online services (Google Authenticator, LastPass)

* manage my finances on demand (online banking apps)

* track my health and fitness (MyFitnessPal and Moves)

Not to mention the fact that I'm currently working on my startup's smartphone
app.

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AnimalMuppet
You can't strike up a conversation in public any more. Everyone is too
occupied with their electronics.

You don't get to talk to a human when you call a business - at least, not
without great effort. You don't at the grocery store either - self checkout.

Daily life has dramatically de-humanized. Yeah, it feels like I live in the
future, but I don't like this part of it.

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vbcr
Future was when I watched Steve Jobs flick his finger to scroll through
contacts when he was introducing the first iphone. Prior to that I always felt
scrolling through 200+ contacts on my sony ericsson phone was unnecessarily
hard. It has been almost 8 years since and I can distinctly remember the awe
on my face.

I am living in the future ever since.

~~~
ryannevius
Just...wow:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN4U5FqrOdQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN4U5FqrOdQ)

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znt
I feel like I live in 1984. Not sure if this is what future supposed to be
like.

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gvand
Sometimes it feels like a dumbed down version of the future I expected as a
child just a few decades ago, a lot of extremely cool technological
improvements but the human race has not improved much.

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Varkiil
The only thing that makes me feel this way is that 2020 is only 5 years away
and Los Angeles 2013 took place 2 years ago...

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pdiddy
After reading William Gibson: yes.

