Do you ever wonder how long it’ll take before we get “science fiction” technology?
I’m sure that all little boys have ran around playing “spacemen” at one time or another, but aside from the laser rifles and whatnot, have you ever thought about when it would be possible to buy the futuristic technology that you’ve seen in one science fiction programme or film?
It turns out that the time from it being in science fiction and the genuine article being available in the shops is under 20 years. The computer tablet that Captain Kirk used in 1969 was available in the shops by 1991 and the communicators (ie mobile phones) were around even sooner than that as indeed were talking computers (which ironically were launched by the early 1980s and considered obselete less than 10 years later!).
In fact, aside from the warp drive (theoretically possible, if somewhat beyond our current capabilities) and the transporter (sadly, probably not possible), every single piece of technology on the original Star Trek series is available in the shops today in some form.
So, when you’re next watching some piece of science fiction set in the far distant future don’t be too surprised if you find all that technology that they used in the shops a decade or two later.
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