# WHAT IS IT!?!?!?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2001, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307 "2001-01-10T10:09:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dpr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dpr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dpr)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/1 "2001-01-10T10:09:38Z")
News today about a revolutionary new invention that could change the world. It’s supposedly bigger than the invention of the PC or the internet. A publishing house has already paid $250,000 for the book on it. What is it? We don’t know. Secrecy abounds around Dean Kama’s new invention. Codenamed Ginger, IT (we’re not sure whether IT is ‘it’ or an acronym) will change society. According to Kemper’s proposal, IT will change the world, and is so extraordinary that it has drawn the attention of technology visionaries Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs and the investment dollars of pre-eminent Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, among others. Picked up the story [here](http://www.msnbc.com/news/513749.asp?0cm=c10&cp1=1), [here](http://www.salon.com/books/wire/2001/01/09/ginger/index.html) and [here.]([http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article\_id=20218&p](http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=20218&p) od\_id=8) The secrecy is apparently because Kaman is concerned other’s will block his path or surpass it because he can make a buck. What’s interesting are some of the quotes that alledgedly came out of his meetings with the Big Boys. Bezos is quoted as saying that IT “…is a product so revolutionary, you’ll have no problem selling it. The question is, are people going to be allowed to use it?” Jobs is quoted as saying: “…If enough people see the machine you won’t have to convince them to architect cities around it. It’ll just happen.” The only other real clues (see the first article) are that he assembled it quickly and from goods that filled a couple of duffle bags and cardboard boxes AND that > [@](#): > > _[MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com):_ > "the “core technology and its implementations” will, according to Kamen, “have a big, broad impact not only on social institutions but some billion-dollar old-line companies.” And the invention will “profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide. It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities.” " Our idle speculation here is that for it affect an old-line company means it should be either an energy source or a transport means. Needing to restructure architecture would imply transport (possibly flying) - a hypothesis seemingly backed up the question of whether people will be allowed to use it. It obviously addresses pollution as well. IT could always stand for Individual Transport too… 😉 So what do you think Dopers? What could The Next Best Thing be? Please indulge in speculation with us here… btw: it should be noted that we have been unable to find the original letter or source. Finding three sites hardly constitutes reliable evidence. It could all be a scam, media beat-up or another damn Blair Witch. ```auto 1968: Martin Luther King Jr assassinated, Astronaut Neil Armstrong was nearly killed in a lunar module trainer accident, The Big Mac was created, Sesame Street began, Legoland built in Denmark (that changed the world too ;) ) ``` ---
**Author:** ![Rift](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rift](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rift)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/2 "2001-01-10T10:14:25Z")
When I a little boy I was told, no PROMISED, that by the 21st century we’d be living on the moon and flying around with Rocketpacks. Well it’s now officially the 21st century and **I WANT MY ROCKETPACK!!!** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nymysys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f6c823/32.png) [@Nymysys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nymysys)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/3 "2001-01-10T10:31:51Z")
If they’ve figured out how to rip the time/space continuum, I know a LOT of people that are going to be VERY happy. I’ll be the first to test-drive it, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@Cumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumber)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/4 "2001-01-10T10:58:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rift \* > \*\*When I a little boy I was told, no PROMISED, that by the 21st century we’d be living on the moon and flying around with Rocketpacks. > > Well it’s now officially the 21st century and **I WANT MY ROCKETPACK!!!** 😉 \*\* I remember seeing sometime late '99 a humourous show on TV entitled the World’s Greatest Debates. One night the contention was that the new millennium bugs us. One of the speakers for the negative (I think) side based his entire argument (approx 10 minutes) around the premise that we’d been promised rocketpacks, and that the government has been saving them up for us. Did bugger all to win the debate, but it was the absolutely hilarious. 🙂 He had the audience chanting “WHERE ARE OUR BLOODY ROCKETPACKS!!” by the end of his argument. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/5 "2001-01-10T11:09:44Z")
Did any English Dopers see that episode of ‘Have I Got News For You’ where thingy keeps going on about rocket packs? that was because they had just been talking about a new invention that had been announced that was kind of like a rocket pack except that you stood in it and it had these two lare fans up above you. I read about it in the paper, maybe thats it? ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/6 "2001-01-10T11:14:02Z")
I say they should quite throwing around bullshit until they’re ready to tell us what it _actually is_. I’m not at all interested in hearing how wonderful some secret invention is. I want to know what it is and personally appreciate its wonderfulness, or lack thereof. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/7 "2001-01-10T11:21:14Z")
It’s a better mousetrap. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/8 "2001-01-10T11:33:55Z")
teleporters. Or maybe mobile porn liberaries. ---
**Author:** ![Togepi\_no\_Miko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Togepi\_no\_Miko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Togepi_no_Miko)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/9 "2001-01-10T11:43:20Z")
Maybe it’s the first suicide booth, ala Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey house and futurama? A sonic shower to save water? ---
**Author:** ![blur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@blur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blur)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/10 "2001-01-10T11:48:21Z")
Its it ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/11 "2001-01-10T12:29:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nukeman \* > \*\*Did any English Dopers see that episode of ‘Have I Got News For You’ where thingy keeps going on about rocket packs? that was because they had just been talking about a new invention that had been announced that was kind of like a rocket pack except that you stood in it and it had these two lare fans up above you. I read about it in the paper, maybe thats it? \*\* Yes, Paul Merton…he put the rocketpack comment in several espisodes…it was still getting a laugh weeks later ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/12 "2001-01-10T13:20:36Z")
Well it all depends on your definition of “it” is. 😉 This is starting to get on my tits already. My inbox is filling up with "What is IT " mails. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/13 "2001-01-10T15:00:54Z")
IT is an experiment in mass hysteria and suspense. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/14 "2001-01-10T15:05:47Z")
I thought Coke was IT… ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/15 "2001-01-10T15:12:20Z")
There was a huge advertising campaign here in Ireland about 15years ago. Nearly every billboard had ads like “Nostrodamus spoke of it… It arrives on the 23rd of next month”. Every new add had a bit more of info on it. It had us all wondering what the hell they where talking about. What was it??? A message saying “The message is true. ADVERTISING WORKS. To place a ad. on these billboards ring xxxxxxxx.” _Very annoying_ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/16 "2001-01-10T15:35:52Z")
They’ve figured out a way to put clowns inside sewer systems and kill children. That’s an It that would change the world, lemmie tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/17 "2001-01-10T15:46:01Z")
Doesn’t Jill Sobule have a song about jet packs? Flying machine is unlikely, because it’s claimed to be a less expensive and less dangerous alternative to something. No flying machine is ever going to be less expensive or more efficient than, say, a car. I’d guess something like strap-on exo-skeleton (sort of like the cargo loader in Aliens), that would allow you to run at automobile speeds, but I don’t know why anyone would think that would be the next Big thing. It would be cool, though. Something like that would have a lot of advantages – take up very little space and wouldn’t require nearly as much power as a car. ---
**Author:** ![Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommy_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/18 "2001-01-10T15:54:10Z")
I thought that **Faith No More** settled this argument years ago. _It’s alive, afraid, a lie, a sin It’s magic, it’s tragic, it’s a loss, it’s a win It’s dark, it’s moist, it’s a bitter pain It’s sad it happened and it’s a shame_ Now **DPR** has to go and get it all riled up again ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/19 "2001-01-10T16:49:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dpr \* > A publishing house has already paid $250,000 for the book on it. What is it? My coworker just suggested that IT is an unlubricated phallus in the anus of Harvard Press’s executive editor…but that’s just a guess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307/20 "2001-01-10T16:58:20Z")
Here’s a company that is testing their flying machine now- [http://www.solotrek.com/](http://www.solotrek.com/) It looks sorta neat. -Tcat [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it/49307.md?page=2)