# Things that haven't been invented yet **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562 "2004-09-07T23:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/61 "2004-09-10T00:52:19Z")
Self cleaning cars and houses. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/62 "2004-09-10T18:38:49Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Oooo, oooo, you know what I want them to invent? A screen that’s comfortable to read lots of text from. It should look basically like a piece of paper, except that it can rewrite itself. Bonus points if you can fold it up and stick it in your back pocket. Actually, my brother works for a major company that is working on computer screens that you can fold like a piece of paper right now. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/63 "2004-09-10T20:35:10Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > Traffic is the enemy. Then by definition you are your own enemy. Any system that managed your route to beat everyone else only works as long as few people have it. As soon as it becomes commonplace it becomes self defeating. Without taking cars off the road the best you can hope for is a system that controls all the cars so the overall throughput is a little better. It’s like the stock market, there can be no big winners without a lot of losers. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/64 "2004-09-11T01:13:26Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Self cleaning cars and houses. The technology that allows those free-standing public toilet kiosks to self-clean should be mandated for all new public building construction. Not only should toilets self-flush and taps run automatically, the stall floors, sinks and toilets should be sanitized between each use. And we should absolutely be able to have that in our houses, too, if perhaps not to be activated after every single use, but at least once per day. Instead of a in-car traffic beating system, I think I’d like customizable public transport. For the same price, roughly, of a bus or subway ride, perhaps a little more, I would like to be able to get a minibus or tram where I was that was going where I needed to go without a transfer or the need to walk multiple blocks on either end of the trip. This would be arranged online or by phone 60 minutes or more ahead of time, or a “season pass” could be arranged for daily commutes or standing appointments. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/65 "2004-09-11T05:43:23Z")
Wood-davers. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/66 "2004-09-11T13:27:40Z")
A staple food that grows in brackish or salt water. Rice/Wheat/Potatoes. Fruit and vegetables too. A machine to vacuum Ozone out of the atmosphere/recycle it to something innocuous. Intelligent Pets /Domesticated dwarf-elephants/camels/etc (coming your way soon) Organ + Tissue Banks: Make a dna or tissue or stem cell deposit, withdraw developed tissue or organ at leisure or need. Detachable muscles, gills, ultaviolet lenses. Sterile, Screwworm Fly\* equivalents for most feral & pest animals and micro-organisms. Nano-tech biological virus killers and tissue cleaners. Ram-jet aircraft - 15 years? - google this, it is interesting ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/67 "2004-09-11T13:31:16Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > … Any system that managed your route to beat everyone else only works as long as few people have it. … It’s like the stock market, there can be no big winners without a lot of losers. I could live with that. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/68 "2004-09-11T13:59:42Z")
Bee G-suits. Let’s face it, being shot out of a gun is no picnic. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562/69 "2004-09-11T14:43:42Z")
I have one of these [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/10/sony\_micro\_pc](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/10/sony_micro_pc) at work. In English units, it’s 6-1/2" x 4-1/4" x 1" and weighs about 1 lb. Think typical paperback novel and you’ve got it perfectly. Its got a 1GHz pentium processor, 512MB of RAM, a 10GB harddrive, and runs ordinary Windows XP Tablet version. It’s got built in 802.11g, Firewire, 3 USB ports, speaker, microphone, headset connection, etc. Like all tablet PCs, it has (barely adequate) handwriting recognition or a pop-up QWERTY keyboard window if you don’t attach a physical keyboard to it. The keyboard they show folds in half to make a 4-1/2" square x 3/8" thick package. Even for somebody who works with high end mobile devices every day, the thing is still borderline miraculous. IOW, next year it’ll seem boring, heavy, and slooow! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-havent-been-invented-yet/263562.md?page=3)