The question isn’t that whether or not we can build flying cars – actually flying cars have been built since the 1900s the dawn of cars and planes (isn’t it surprising that planes and cars were invented almost around the same time? given flying is much more difficult than driving?)
Aerocar – Wikipedia Moulton Taylor built one of the best first flying cars in 1949 – improved upon the design of the Airphibian with actual folding wings – and it actually worked, looked decent, was durable enough and was certified by the CAA. But he couldn’t get Ford to mass produce it.
there’s two very good reasons why manufacturers have stayed away from flying cars and why we don’t have them en masse:
In order to make a flying vehicle safe enough to fly, you would have to compromise on its effectiveness as a road vehicle, and in order to make a road vehicle safe enough to drive, you would have to compromise on its effectiveness as a flying vehicle. Basically, it would be a compromise all around, would not satisfy the safety requirements of either space, and would be expensive as hell.
the actual logistics of this. In The Jetsons you can see people flying cars in separate air lanes on the way to work and stuff. That’s not really possible in reality. Pilots already have to go through much heavier certification requirements than road drivers do. And they have to pilot the plane in a certain airspace in order to comply with laws and to avoid crashing into other planes. Now imagine your everyday driver, who already have road rage problems or problems driving on the road imagine thousands of normal people in the air piloting planes. That would be chaos!! Adding that extra dimension of movement – can you imagine how many accidents would happen? Not only given the ability to crash from the ground but the ability to crash down from the air too? given how many road accidents we have already? Geez. And oh yeah, let’s not forget about the noise too. Aircrafts make noise – much more so than cars do. Imagine 1000s of them in the air above you and thinking any of them could come down and guillotine you at any time. Not exactly anxiety-reducing.
I don’t really know how they can do it. Especially for software.
-Windows is a US product (Microsoft). It runs on more than 90%+ of computers.
-MacOS / iOS is also a US product (Apple)
-Microsoft Office is a US product
-Adobe Photoshop / Premiere / Final Cut Pro are US products
-Every popular programming language comes from the West except for Ruby. Python, Java, JavaScript, C, C++, etc were all invented in America and thus use English in their syntax.
-Almost all computer processors are designed by Intel or AMD (American)
-A good chunk of mobile processors are designed by Qualcomm (American). But China has HiSilicon so they might be ok here.
-Network communications including WIFI and Bluetooth modules are usually designed by Qualcomm, Broadcom or Intel (all American)
-A major player in managing team workflows is Atlassian which is an Australian company. They make Confluence and Jira, which are widely used by Chinese companies.
-So are communication tools like Slack and Skype (both American)
-RAM modules are usually made by SK Hynix (Korean), Kingston, Micron, Corsair etc (American)
-Hard drives are made by Hitachi, Toshiba (Japanese) or Samsung (Korean) or Seagate, WD (American)
-Audio chips are designed by Cirrus Logic, Wolfson, ESS Tech (American) or Asahi Kasei (Japan)
-Camera sensors are made by Sony (Japan)
-Displays are usually made by LG or Samsung (Korea)
-Motherboards are made by Asus, Gigabyte, Biostar, MSI (Taiwan)
-Graphics cards are designed by Intel, Nvidia or AMD (American)
Unless the article means banning products made in America (which there isn’t really many stuff made in USA anymore) and using strictly Chinese software (already happening) then that’s already been happening for past few years. Otherwise, its kinda impossible to ban software/hardware that are US designed since that’s in everything including the fabric of TCP/IP and the Internet itself which originally came from the US military.
Many people have this image of Sony as being a company that was once innovative, but has since fallen from grace and is now mostly known for gaming (Playstation), Music (Sony Music) and Movies (Columbia Pictures), the latter two not particularly related to tech.
Let me explain why Sony is still innovative in fact, at a higher level than Apple or Samsung or most other tech companies right now.
Firstly, Sony has been one of the most innovative tech companies of all time. The list of their accomplishments cannot be understated:
-They released the TR-55 one of their first products as the first transistor radio available in Japan
-They released the TC-50 a compact cassette recorder that was equipped with every NASA astronaut
-They released the VP-1100 the world’s first videocassette recorder
-They release the first color video camera, the XC-1
-The first commercial lithium ion battery was released by Sony in joint collaboration with Asahi Kasei
–Trinitron – Wikipedia televisions, whose superior design ( the single-gun three-cathode picture tube, and the vertically aligned aperture grill) made it reign supreme as one of the best color televisions on the market for over 20 years
-Sony introduced the 3.5″ floppy disk, which lasted for a good 2 decades after their introduction
-the Blu-ray – Wikipedia format, was primarily spearheaded by Sony and still used today
-Other more forgotten physical media formats (all proprietary to Sony): UMD, MiniDisc, Memory stick, PS Vita memory etc
-the first popular CD based video game console, the Playstation (yes the Sega CD and Turbographx CD came before, but it was the PSOne that popularized the format for video games)
-the best selling video game console of all time (and most people’s first DVD player), the PlayStation 2 – Wikipedia
-the Vaio – Wikipedia line of laptops which amongst other innovations introduced the first LED backlit displays (became standard on all laptops after that), chiclet style keyboards (way before Apple and others did), thin and light designs (years before the MacBook Air), and switchable graphics (now standard on entry level gaming laptops)
-the first truly immersive head mounted displays (Sony Glasstron, HMZ-T1 – Wikipedia, T2, and T3) – its designs are still being used today by smaller companies in the HMD niche
-The first handheld gaming console to use exclusively digital games and no physical releases (PSP Go – way ahead of its time)
-The Sony Tablet P – Sony Tablet – Wikipedia – was the first android device to use dual displays – this was 9 years before the Microsoft Surface Duo would bring back this design! Again, Sony was way ahead of their time.
-the 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector now used by most DAPs (portable audio players)
That’s a heck of a lot of innovations for any tech company. But most people think Sony’s innovations have come and gone, and just like post Steve Jobs Apple, their products have languished since – and they couldn’t be more wrong! Sony is still innovating, they just have been very low key in marketing their more cooler products.
Let’s take a look at Sony’s current tech portfolio now, shall we? Some things may surprise you
-Sony’s most well known product right now is the PlayStation 4 – Wikipedia, and its the best selling console of its generation
-Sony’s Mirrorless Sony α – Wikipedia Cameras have completely upended the DSLR market and as a result forced Canon and Nikon and other camera makers to move to mirrorless as well
-Sony’s OLED TVs (like the A9F and A9G) have the speaker built into the display itself; no other television maker has done this
-Sony’s Quantum Dot TVs using Triluminous technology – came out WAY before Samsung’s QLED TVs did. Samsung would have you believe they invented it – but it was Sony.
-Sony’s Sony Xperia – Wikipedia phones are perennially underrated; they were one of the first smartphones to have water resistance (IP67+) and support high res audio and currently are the only smartphones on the market with a 21:9 cinema aspect ratio display. Also, they made the Xperia Pro-I, the first smartphone with a 1 inch camera sensor (the same sensor they have in their RX100 small size cameras)
-Sony’s high end Walkmans and Headphones (like the WM1Z and Z1R) compete with the best of the best from other high end audio, each costing over $2k+ – as a high end audio brand, Sony is as respected as any other company which is impressive for a company who dabbles in basically every price range. Sony SA-Z1 Hi-Res Near Field Powered Speaker System Signature Series their latest speaker, an unheard of design that projects near-field sound to the listener, retails for over $6k.
-Sony collaborates with Carl Zeiss to release their own lenses
-Sony is a leader in the production space with the Sony Vegas production software and their pro cameras like the HDC-5500 that competes with Arri and RED, used in Hollywood films.
is a wearable speaker – only Bose makes something else like this.
-Sony’s action cameras (AS300, X3000 etc) were the first on the market with optical image stabilization (OIS) – its competitors like GoPro were still using EIS (Electronic image stabilization)
-They have a line of very successful noise cancelling wireless headphones (WH-1000XM3) as well as the first ever noise cancelling wireless earbuds (WF-1000X) as well. The fact that they caught up to Bose in noise cancellation technology is astonishing considering that Bose specialized in that technology for years while Sony has their hands in every industry.
-Just other generally cool stuff that other companies do not care to try; Sony Glass Sound Speaker a glass speaker that doubles as a lamp? Sure. How about a projector that can project touch surfaces onto any area? Xperia Touch Official Website – Sony Mobile (Global English) this is astonishing technology, and I can just imagine if Apple made something like this it would grab headlines everywhere. But Sony as usual, keeps their cool stuff low key.
-And lets not forget, they are still making aibo robots as well (again, which other company is doing this???).
Sony should be getting much more appreciation for their innovation. They are still one of the most innovative companies on the market yet people always forget about them. It’s very rare that a company does so many things so well, and for so long. That’s why Sony tends to charge a premium for their devices.
One thing I really wish Sony would do better is, name their products better and market better. That’s the advantage Apple and Bose have over them.
Palm Pilots / PDAs – before smartphones, people carried these around to take notes and keep track of appointments
iPod Classic. When I first saw these I was amazed that such a small device could fit so many songs – and the clickwheel was magic – it moves the navigation when you move your thumb around it how amazing is that!
VCRs. Back in the day you could put in a blank tape, and whatever you are watching on your TV be it your favorite movie or TV show, can be recorded onto your very own VHS tape. You can even schedule it to do that when you are at work or school. That’s amazing isn’t it? I don’t think DVDs or Blurays have that capability these days – at least not standard in those players
Sony Walkman.. before the Walkman came out, people listened to music at home through LPs and a record player. They could not carry that with them when they were outside. The Walkman changed music listening habits forever
Car Phones. Before cellphones, how else could you contact someone while you were driving?
Typewriters. Before computers, this is what people used to submit their homework.
Film Cameras. Before digital cameras, you had to take your film to a dark room to be developed. You had no way of previewing the image like you do now.
Portable DVD players. Replaced by iPads now.
Portable electronic dictionary. Replaced by smarphones now
Portable GPS. Also replaced by smartphones
Ball mice
CRT monitors
Pagers – used to be all the rage in the 1990s
8 track tape – ask your father
The venerable floppy disk which has now just become the save icon on your menu bar
Record player.. this is not entirely obsolete but lets just say its now a *niche* item
Payphones.. replaced by cellphones now
Slide Ruler – replaced by calculators
Instant Messengers – replaced by mobile messengers now
all these technologies will be lost in time… like tears in the rain
I have two major updates that happened to my life recently:
I changed companies
I’m currently working for BitTorrent Inc as a Front End Engineer. Yes, though my old company (Switchfly Inc) was a pretty good company to work for, I’ve decided to take up new opportunities… BitTorrent’s stack consists of Python, MongoDB, BackboneJS and NodeJS, which gives me enough of a change from Coldfusion, PrototypeJS, EmberJS, Freemarker and Java. Its a new experience, with a strong recognizable company who are headquartered in downtown SOMA, and I’ve been enjoying working there so far.
Edit: if you want to check out my submission for BitTorrent’s coding exercise, check out the TEDx Feedreader application I made using Backbone + Bootstrap, all done in 8 hours: http://www.blueisme.com/feedreader
I went to Korea
I just came back from 2 weeks in Seoul, Korea and I loved it. As expected, I enjoyed every moment of that trip, and I still miss Korea already. There are several things I like about Korea more than USA such as:
1) Food/Drinks are amazing
Forget Korean food in USA. Korea has much better food than USA, much healthier with more organic ingredients, cheaper to buy, and tastes better. Forget Pizza Hut, Mr.Pizza is amazing. Forget Bulgogi and Bibimbap, Dalkgalbi (chicken ribs) and Jimm Dalk (steamed chicken) and Chi maek (fried chicken and beer) is much more amazing. Forget Soju and Korean Beer, try the many flavors of Makgeolli (rice wine), Paekseju (flavorful, weaker version of Soju), Cheongha (tastes like a mix of soju and sprite), Bokbunja (raspberry wine), and Maehwasu (plum wine). All amazing.
Oh and by the way, all the stores close later than in America, usually around 2am. The bars/clubs usually close around 6am, and some of the cafes and restaurants are 24/7 as well. Just amazing. Oh and did I mention? There’s no tip or taxes in Korea, and there’s a button you can use to call the waiter in restaurants. And fast food has delivery, like McDonalds and Burger King have guys on scooters that deliver burgers to you. Double amazing.
2) Technology is widely adopted there
Wifi is ultra super fast in Korea. You can use Wifi in the Subway, even in the mountains, pretty much everywhere, as long as you have a Wifi card. EVERYONE in the subway is on their phone, and when you can watch TV on your phone and use super fast Wifi, why not. There’s Google Maps touch screens in the subway. Everything has a dispenser or a machine for convenience. Even the toilets have controls on them. Alot of the designs in Korea are just amazing. Its hard to believe the smartphone only came in 2009 in Korea, yet now everyone from schoolgirls to old men use them there.
3) Transportation is amazing
The transportation system is probably the best I’ve experienced, ahead of NYC and Shanghai. The Seoul subway takes you all around Seoul and the Metro area, and is cheap on top of that. There’s apps to calculate the exact time it takes from one station to another, since trains are always on time. In addition, the places where you can’t go using subway, you can take buses or taxi, both of them much cheaper than in America.
4) Clothes are better
Korean clothes are a much better fit for me, being more suited to Asian bodies. People there are skinnier in general, and I’m skinny so it really fits me. In addition, they have much better styles than boring American clothing and are cheaper as well, as long as you haggle. Ironically, Koreans mostly buy foreign brands, not knowing that foreign brands (which are made in Southeast Asia) are actually lower quality than their own Korean brands (which are made in Korea). Shopping Malls as high as skyscrapers and numerous cosmetics stores are everywhere in Korea.
5) Everyone dresses up and looks good
Ever wonder why Koreans get so much plastic surgery?? Because its societal pressure!! Korean girls feel pressured to get plastic surgery because everyone competes to get a job, and since you have to submit a photo with your resume, the prettier girl gets the better job!! In addition, everyone dresses up everyday, regardless of situation. Korean girls wear makeup, contacts, high heels, nail polish, dresses/skirts/short shorts whereever they go, and Korean men often wear blazers, khakis, tight jeans, nice fitted shirts too. Its the society norm. Clubbing clothes in America are everyday outfits in Korea. As a result, a large majority of the girls there can be considered very beautiful by any standard. Trust me, its so weird to see model-looking women eating at McDonalds, or reading books at the public library wearing stilletos, but its normal.
6) Everything is clean and organized
Everything is clean and organized in Korea. This isn’t China with smoggy skies or littered streets. All the streets are clean, all the clothes people wear are immaculate, and even the bathrooms will be as clean as you can find them. There is even a machine in the public library to sanitize books. Everyone gets an apron when they eat barbecue. Towels to wash your hands are offered at different places. There are rarely any homeless people, and buskers only play in one place: Hongdae. Next time I will carry a pocket stain remover wherever I go.
7) Korea has a strong sense of community
I learned that Koreans have a sense of 정/jeong, which is this unique korean sense of feeling kindred with others. As a result most Koreans are very polite and nice to others when they have a chance. Normally Koreans are very different than Americans in that they are mostly quiet, reserved people who go about their days almost too predictably. Koreans have a very rigid mindset, and are almost robotic in the way they conform to society. This means you are probably very safe in Korea, as no one has the cultural mindset to steal, mug, rob, rape, loot, plunder, kill, or anything like that. You can leave your phone on the table and be safe about it. Girls can walk home alone at night without worry.
8) Korea loves couples
On the other hand, Koreans really love couple culture. Americans often have to think about where to go when they date, most likely a restaurant or a theater. But in Korea, alot of places are meant for dating. You have many options to go when you are with your significant other. Seoul Tower is a popular spot, as is Cheonggyecheon (river flowing downtown), or Lotte World, or a Korean village, or a beach, or a theater with a love seat, or an arcade, or a shooting range, or a sticker/photo booth, or one of the many bangs (rooms) set up in Korea, like Noraebang (karaoke), DVD-bang (DVD-room), Jjimchilbang (spa/sauna for couples), Soju-bang, PS/PC-bang (for gaming). There are even shops that sell couple accessories like matching bracelets, t-shirts, charms, everything. Korea is a great place for couples, and can be lonely if you go by yourself.
All in all, I had an amazing time in Korea, especially visiting my friends and experiencing the unique culture… and I really think that out of all the places I’ve been to, I belong the most there. My quiet, unassuming, conformist personality fits right in. So I got a little sad when I realized I’ll never get to experience those memories; I never had a gf when I was in high school or college, never had those kinds of couple culture going on, and of course never experienced a long term relationship with a Korean girl. (FYI I have good reasons for the lack of relationships; I grew up in a small white town with no asians, and was busy with CS in university, a major with very few women). This worries me, as I don’t like long distance relationships, yet I feel Korean culture fits me best. Unfortunately, Korean work culture is very competitive; they have to work long hours, for little pay, and little time for recreation. I would live in Korea, if not for the work aspect. Working at BitTorrent is miles ahead of anything a Korean company could offer me, but maybe someday I’ll have a chance to experience a good work culture, and live in Korea as well. I just hope I can do that while I’m still young.
At a peaceful Korean village
At the top of Bukhan Mountain
Me and my friend at Gyeongbuk Palace
Lotte World
CheonggyeCheon in Gwanghwamun
Lovers Locks at Seoul Tower
Edit: Something ironic and sad that I’ve noticed…
If Americans had to be obsessed with Korean the way Koreans are obsessed with English, this would happen:
Everyone is required to learn Korean in primary school.
Everyone has to go to private academies after school to learn additional Korean.
Everyone has to know Korean and pass a Korean test to get a job.
You will see Korean words mixed in with English wherever you go.
You will see Korean movies with English subtitles, Korean actors, Korean singers, and they will be popular amongst your friends.
All English songs will contain some Korean in it.
Your companies try to copy Korean brands and Korean technology.
Korean clothing is more popular than American clothing.
A lot of your advertisements contain Korean models.
Parents will make their kids have tongue surgery to speak Korean better.
You will have a lot of makeup and plastic surgery to make yourself look more Korean.
You have Korean armies on your land.
Many American girls will fall in love with Korean guys.
Many Americans want to marry Koreans so they can live in Korea.
There is a special district for Koreans that many Americans go to mingle with them.
A Korean education means a lot more than an American education.
Many Americans want to be Korean teachers and make a lot of money.
You often go to eat Korean fast food or drink Korean coffee.
Speaking Korean makes you look more cool and helps you advance in life.
You rely on Korea to protect you from Canada.
…sad but this is all true, but reversed for Korea.
