# Things you thought were (still) Sci-Fi... that aren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290 "2009-05-22T12:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/21 "2009-05-25T18:03:48Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Okay, I was incredulous when I went to the Apple store awhile ago and was able to make my purchase from the salesman in the middle of the store. The kid helped me find whatever it was I needed, then ran my debit card on a little machine on his belt, and emailed me my receipt. No standing in line necessary, totally paperless. I worked with machines similar to those machines, and generations of their predecessors, for 18 years. Such wireless terminals have been around in warehouses for inventory-control for at least that long, but have only relatively-recently made it into customer-facing applications. Similarly with the wireless payment terminals that are showing up in more and more restaurants. The shift to chip-and-PIN credit cards is only going to accelerate their arrival, as it will be more convenient to bring the terminal to the customer rather than requiring the customer to go back to the payment desk. Before, the server took the customer’s card and returned with a receipt to sign. I just read that the terminals Apple uses in their stores, which are Windows-CE-powered, are going to be replaced by iPhones with custom accessories. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/22 "2009-05-26T03:56:32Z")
Reading about [Organic LEDs and Phosphorescent Organic LEDs](http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/16/sonys-3-5-inch-oled-is-just-0-0079-inches-thin/) gets me all excited as well. To think that the fancy HUD on the bridge of the Enterprise in this year’s _Star Trek_ is actually attainable today! I’m surprised nobody has said this yet… after reading this thread from start to finish: **This is a _great_ time to be alive!!** ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/23 "2009-05-26T09:59:00Z")
> [@Casserole](#): > > Reading about [Organic LEDs and Phosphorescent Organic LEDs](http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/16/sonys-3-5-inch-oled-is-just-0-0079-inches-thin/) gets me all excited as well. To think that the fancy HUD on the bridge of the Enterprise in this year’s _Star Trek_ is actually attainable today! I would not be surprised to see something like that surface as a ‘wearable computing’-device within the next 5-10 years (if it even takes that long)… Perhaps some version of the ‘sixth sense’ discussed in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=518190), fitted with goggles with [transparent OLED screens](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G3wWmtkN88) (YouTube link) or perhaps some kind of [virtual retinal display](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display) that creates an image directly on your retina, giving a complete augmented reality experience everywhere you go. All the information available via the net, transmitted to you literally in the blink of an eye. Perhaps the future _is_ so bright I gotta wear shades! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/24 "2009-05-26T15:58:42Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Oh and scientists seem to be making some [progress](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8025886.stm)towards devising invisibility cloaks. As long as they are steam-resistant. 'Cause I know I’m not the only one thinking of the professional cheerleader’s locker room. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/25 "2009-05-26T15:59:55Z")
[Powered Exoskeletons](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hkCcoenLW4) ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/26 "2009-05-26T17:06:54Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > As long as they are steam-resistant. > > 'Cause I know I’m not the only one thinking of the professional cheerleader’s locker room. Yes you are…the rest of us have discovered the internet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/27 "2009-05-26T20:22:46Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Take, for instance, force fields. They’re a staple of contemporary science-fiction, to the point of being disastrously overused – I’ve always wondered why they didn’t make their bloody tea cups out of force fields on _The Next Generation_, they were used for pretty much everything else. Even the sickbay beds had restraining force fields instead of simple straps! I could never figure out why a force field was superior to say…a wall. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/28 "2009-05-26T20:34:31Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > [Powered Exoskeletons](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hkCcoenLW4) [Japanese import version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSP46lWvxJ4) Apparently manufactured by [Cyberdyne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5). ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/29 "2009-05-26T22:03:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > [Japanese import version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSP46lWvxJ4) Apparently manufactured by [Cyberdyne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5). Not just that, they called it ‘HAL’ to top it off (see post 2). And as for forcefields, they’re useful sometimes, like when you want to get the shuttle out while keeping the atmosphere in (kind of what plasma windows are used for right now), or to seal off hull breaches when you don’t really have time to call up the brick-and-mortar crew, but at other times… Well, they look cool, and perhaps the federation needed to impress other species with their ability to totally disregard the energy bill. Kind of like how you don’t really _need_ a Ferrari to get from A to B; they’re (mostly) human after all. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/30 "2009-05-26T22:15:17Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I could never figure out why a force field was superior to say…a wall. Exactly what I was coming in here to say. We already have force fields! A Staff Report from the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board - Is it possible to create a science fiction-type force field? by Karen; January 17, 2002 > [@](#): > > If we could get, say, an immobile sheet of electrons, in approximately the same quantum states as our own electrons, then we could not pass through because the electrons in our atoms would be both electrically repelled by the charge, and forbidden to occupy the same space due to Pauli. This kind of force field would keep Star Trek criminals in the brig! The easiest way to generate an immobile sheet of electrons is to build a wall. The electrons on the surface of this wall would generate a short-distance electric field that would repel (at atomic distances) other matter. Ta-da, a force field! > > If it needs to be invisible, try plexiglass. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/31 "2009-05-26T22:22:08Z")
[Star Trek PADD’s](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/PADD) Yeah, yeah, I know. Things like the iPhone and BlackBerrys have been out for years but it wasn’t until I started shopping for a smartphone last month that I realized just how sci-fi they had become. I chose a BlackBerry and so far I can get GPS navigation on the fly, surf the net while at the store to look up prices and product information, send and recive emails and everything else a full fledged computer can do plus make phone calls all in a device that can fit in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/32 "2009-05-26T23:49:19Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I could never figure out why a force field was superior to say…a wall. It’s supposed to be lighter. That way spaceships can have an extra layer of protection without the extra weight. And if all you need to create a force field is the field generator, then you can have ultra portable walls. ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/33 "2009-05-27T00:52:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I could never figure out why a force field was superior to say…a wall. Or, if you need to temporarily walk through a wall. Helpful for the two examples above, namely: Restraints and the Brig Hm, imagine a seat belt system made from a force field… that would maintain its shape after a potentially fatal collision. Definite life saver there. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290/34 "2009-05-27T01:00:31Z")
Apparently one can now [see through walls](http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0706-seeing_through_walls.htm). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-still-sci-fi-that-arent/497290.md?page=1)