An article in The Economist today caught my eye: a brief write up summarizing the latest developments in flying cars explaining why I won't be able to buy one any time soon. The usual challenges were cited--regulation unprepared to handle the traffic, operation too complex for normal folks, technology not quite ready. All of these excuses could have been offered to prevent the development and distribution of computers, but they weren't. Perhaps the inventors of flying cars could learn something from Gates and Jobs.
I've been obsessed with flying cars since I was 9 years old and my friend Stephen, the nerdiest kid in class, promised to build one for me. It was a simple design involving a large fan and a lever or two. We remained grounded, but I think he had the right idea. Instead of crafting a car that flew, Stephen was just trying to get me airborne.
If an inventor took a clue from Gates and Jobs, they would make a personal flying machine. It would be smaller and much less powerful than a plane or car. It would be easier to operate. It would be pretty. And it would only need to get its single passenger about a foot off the ground, moving about the speed of a bike. I would buy two.
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