Transport is so unpractical in our world nowadays.
It just takes too long to get from a certain point A to another point B.
I can’t believe that over the years, mankind haven’t been able to invent a faster method of transportation than the airplane.
A dream method of transportation for me would be a teleportation device.
There would be public ones, phone booth like structures that you find on every street corner, or private ones that you could buy and use from the luxury of your home.
You’d walk into one of these booths, to find a little ATM like device/interface waiting for you. You slide in your magnetic card, which acts as a passport, a credit card and contact/destination storage device.
You don’t enter your pin number, those are so out-dated, you rather get an Iris check or maybe even a quick DNA check, then you’re given access to the main interface, and your personal homepage is shown.
You have the possibility to choose one of your saved favourite destinations, the top 5 of which appear on your homepage, or you can search for the nearest booth to the place you want to go to; ads for places like restaurants, hotels and whatnot will be shown on the side, tempting you to drop by when you’re in the area, maybe even offering you a free or discount round-teleportation-trip.
You choose where you want to go, and then the system checks your card to see whether you have the necessary visa/authorization to go to that place, and if you have the required funds to cover the price of the trip. The price is determined by a set of different factors, among them the person’s mass, the distance to be travelled, …etc.
When your destination is chosen, you’re found to have the authorization to travel there, and your trip is paid, and well you’ve also re-confirmed your wish to travel there: the teleportation begins.
In a matter of seconds, if not less, you’re in the teleportation booth that you chose to travel to; your card pops out from the system in that booth for you to collect, and you walk out right where you want to be.
All this in less than a minute all in all. Perfect, simple and ever so practical.
Oh, how I wish, something like that were possible right now.
Travel would be an even greater joy than it already is.
d
Have faith–it’s coming. (“No, no. You go first–I insist!”)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_25_165/ai_n6110534
Though I think, MMM, you may be confusing the beaming of matter with teleportation. (As you know, the latter is my special province. 🙂 )
Cheers,
J.
Teleportation is very imaginary, since only atoms can be moved around by wire, and if we took apart a humans atoms… we wouldn’t see him on the other side.
If you think more realisticly, we can invent things faster than the plane. However the faster we get: A – The more dangerous it gets, since right now we have around 3000 km/h in the plane, and going faster than that is scary : B – The more expensive it gets, and its already terribly expensive right now.
It’s closer than you could imagine..
Refer to your article about Wirecity.. It’s all in their.. Amazing
Then there’s the old argument that the ability to disassemble and reassemble matter also grants the ability to reassemble it differently. (Intentionally, that is. 🙂 ) Science fiction’s legendary food converter–“Tea, Earl Grey, hot,” represents a society in which raw materials can become instant constructs.
The economic ripples from this would have vast social impact, making possible an existence wherein it’d could truly be “to each according to his need, from each according to his ability.” 🙂
Conversely, it could foster a rigid totalitarianism wherein a handful control, well, the means of production. Considering though, that the concomitant technology would also foster the ability found off-world colonies, totalitarianism would be hard-pressed to maintain control over a constantly expanding, emigrating population.
My, I do go on. Perhaps I’ll go write a book.
Cheers,
J.