# It's the 21st century. I can't believe we still... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126 "2009-12-05T20:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/1 "2009-12-05T20:44:39Z")
…don’t have 3D holograms everywhere. I’ve seen some stuff at tech shows, but seriously, why isn’t there a hot woman (that occasionally flickers to remind you shes a hologram) welcoming me as I walk into a shop, for instance? …use umbrellas – they just look so _primitive_, and they can be worse than useless if it’s windy. …believe in BS like homeopathy. ---
**Author:** ![echowit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@echowit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echowit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/2 "2009-12-05T20:58:17Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > … but seriously, why isn’t there a hot woman (that occasionally flickers to remind you shes a hologram) … I think I dated a lot of them already when I was younger, their eyes would flicker, then they would completely disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/3 "2009-12-05T21:20:17Z")
All WAG’s: > [@Mijin](#): > > …don’t have 3D holograms everywhere. I’ve seen some stuff at tech shows, but seriously, why isn’t there a hot woman (that occasionally flickers to remind you shes a hologram) welcoming me as I walk into a shop, for instance? Cost/benefit? I think if you can do the same thing with a poster for 1/10000th the cost, that’s the way to go. > [@Mijin](#): > > …use umbrellas – they just look so _primitive_, and they can be worse than useless if it’s windy. A joke product in Japan is the [full body umbrella](http://officespam.chattablogs.com/archives/japanese-full-body-umbrella-thumb.jpg), but I would buy it in a heartbeat. I suppose it’s somewhat dangerous and inconvenient, but a marked improvement. > [@Mijin](#): > > …believe in BS like homeopathy. Some of it works. I swear by my chiropractor and Chinese doctor’s pills/vacuum cups. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/4 "2009-12-05T21:22:03Z")
I’ll be the one to go mega-obvious: Flying cars. Or at least electric or other non-polluting cars in common use. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/5 "2009-12-05T21:35:39Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Cost/benefit? I think if you can do the same thing with a poster for 1/10000th the cost, that’s the way to go. I wasn’t being entirely serious about that one. But still, early adopters would see a big benefit against putting a poster up. It would be quite a draw seeing Mario running around a games shop. Or even just running on the spot above some kind of projector. > [@](#): > > A joke product in Japan is the [full body umbrella](http://officespam.chattablogs.com/archives/japanese-full-body-umbrella-thumb.jpg), but I would buy it in a heartbeat. I suppose it’s somewhat dangerous and inconvenient, but a marked improvement. That’s going on my list to santa! > [@](#): > > Some of it works. I swear by my chiropractor and Chinese doctor’s pills/vacuum cups. Historically, anecdotal information isn’t very reliable. Randomized clinical trials are far more significant, but despite many studies there are few if any that support the efficacy of alternative therapies such as those you’ve listed. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/6 "2009-12-05T21:38:25Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Flying cars. It’s here! > **[Terrafugia](http://www.terrafugia.com/)** Only a million dollars! Sigh, too bad it’s just a plane that can drive, not a car that can fly. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/7 "2009-12-05T21:39:57Z")
On a more serious note: …haven’t totally eliminated the teaching of junk science such as creationism from public schools. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/8 "2009-12-05T21:52:01Z")
Food pills instead of eating! Where are the Jetson’s food pills!?! ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/9 "2009-12-05T21:54:18Z")
…have astrology columns in newspapers and online. …can’t seem to disinfect many people’s minds of religion. …can’t achieve a proper democracy, one that isn’t suvberted by the power elite to their own ends. …can’t learn to resolve differences without violence. …are still so addicted to paper documentation. …refuse to adopt simplified or rationalised English spelling. …have so many people commuting to a workplace during crush hour in the morning and reverse the whole sorry exercise towards the evening, instead of either staggered start times or tele-working. - look at a movie star or sports player earning millions and a nurse earning hardly anything, and just shrug and say ‘market forces…’ and move on, without thinking there’s anything just a little bit wrong with this picture. - can’t fix things so that everyone on the planet has easy access to clean drinking water, basic sanitation and somewhere comfy to sleep at night. - allow call centres to exist. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/10 "2009-12-05T22:06:06Z")
… public school teaching is considered a “bad” job. … in some places, and soon-to-be nationwide, there are more guns than people in the US. … the solution to bad education is…[_less_ education?!?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_child_left_behind) … college is no longer higher education, but remedial high school education. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/11 "2009-12-05T22:55:26Z")
Current dental practices. You want to stick needles WHERE? And then just drill into my teeth? Seriously? We still don’t have anything better than this? ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/12 "2009-12-05T23:01:03Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > …use umbrellas – they just look so _primitive_, and they can be worse than useless if it’s windy. :mad::mad: How dare you impugn the beauteous design that is an umbrella! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/13 "2009-12-05T23:06:32Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > \ > …have so many people commuting to a workplace during crush hour in the morning and reverse the whole sorry exercise towards the evening, instead of either staggered start times or tele-working. Good one. Most of the jobs I’ve had in the last 10 or so years did need some overlap with people in other offices being in, but I didn’t need other people to be at work exactly the same eight hours I was, and with email, voicemail, night deposit, etc., the requirement is even less. I have a problem with an invoice, I send an email, they respond, life goes on. I really don’t see why everyone has to work at the same time. > [@](#): > > \ > > - allow call centres to exist. No kidding. Maybe I’ll just dream that instead of telephone sanitizers, it was actually telemarketers in the ship in Douglas Adams’ book. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/14 "2009-12-05T23:19:30Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > A joke product in Japan is the [full body umbrella](http://officespam.chattablogs.com/archives/japanese-full-body-umbrella-thumb.jpg), but I would buy it in a heartbeat. I suppose it’s somewhat dangerous and inconvenient, but a marked improvement. oooo I like that, there is nothing as annoying as being damp or outright wet from the waist down because of horizontal blowing raindrops and road spray … and then having to sit and suffer all day at work or in class =( ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/15 "2009-12-06T00:03:21Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > It’s here! > [http://www.terrafugia.com/](http://www.terrafugia.com/) > > Only a million dollars! > > Sigh, too bad it’s just a plane that can drive, not a car that can fly. ☹ Well, the phrase “flying car” to futurologists / journos seems to mean “a car that can also be flown”. But actually, who gives a damn about the road? I think by “flying car” most people just mean “a flying version of my everyday form of transport”. So a plane that has vertical take off and landing, costs $40,000 say, and has reasonable mileage, comfort and (somehow) safety. Maybe lasers as an optional extra. Hopefully Terrafugia are reading this 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/16 "2009-12-06T00:19:16Z")
[Where the fuck is my Jetpack?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1SCu9yiBlo) ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/17 "2009-12-06T00:53:52Z")
…instinctively bless someone after s/he sneezes. A carry-over from the Middle Ages that is still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/18 "2009-12-06T00:57:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Current dental practices. You want to stick needles WHERE? And then just drill into my teeth? Seriously? We still don’t have anything better than this? My dentist uses a laser for small cavities. And doesn’t need anaesthetic when he uses it. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/19 "2009-12-06T01:42:11Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > …instinctively bless someone after s/he sneezes. A carry-over from the Middle Ages that is still going strong. Instinctively? Even granting a loose poetic license, I can’t agree that anyone \*instinctively \*blesses anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126/20 "2009-12-06T02:23:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Good one. Most of the jobs I’ve had in the last 10 or so years did need some overlap with people in other offices being in, but I didn’t need other people to be at work exactly the same eight hours I was, and with email, voicemail, night deposit, etc., the requirement is even less. I have a problem with an invoice, I send an email, they respond, life goes on. I really don’t see why everyone has to work at the same time. You can accomplish a lot more than just avoiding traffic by timing your schedule strategically. I get in at 7:00 because I’m a morning person anyway and it gives me a few hours to get some work done before the rest of the world is buzzing. Then you’ve got your normal hours. Then everyone is getting ready to go home but what now?! That’s right, it’s only 3 PM on the west coast! And if you’ve planned well your conference calls with your west coast people are all early evening for you. By the time that’s over everyone people in China is coming in if I need to communicate with them live. Now most people might prefer to not personally work ALL day and truthfully these days if I know I need to talk to someone in Taiwan at 9 PM I won’t get to work at 7 AM, but there’s a lot of potential. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-21st-century-i-cant-believe-we-still/520126.md?page=2)