Where's My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived

If you're of a certain age such that you remember the various magazines of the late 50's and the 60's that promised great things in the "future", then you'll find yourself saying "Oh yeah...Food Pills...Domed Cities...Aqua Gills. Hmmmmm...what ever happened to all that stuff?" as you flip through the chapters. So naturally, anyone younger than 40 has no frame of reference to the basis for the book and would probably wonder why older people were so silly "back then". Oh well.Anyway, the stories are a mix of history, science updates, and a humorous take on what happens when naive science fiction and real science collide. It's that collision that keeps us from living under the ocean in glass cites or flying through the air in our anti-gravity cars or our jetpacks. But the most interesting aspect of the book is where the author discusses some old flight-of-fancy that has somewhat of come true in our day, even if it's not in the manner that was envisioned by the futurists of 50 years ago.A fun book, easy to read.

And it gives you an answer too, although not always the one you want to hear. Wilson looks at inventions that have been "just around the corner" or an accepted part of future life for decades and lays out just why they haven't come about... or at least not in the form originally envisioned. The jetpack is a perfect example: it looked like it was real, cutting-edge technology when it appeared in films and TV shows in the 1960s and 1970s, but in reality it is a dead-end technology because of noise, fuel consumption, etc. etc.Who explains all this? No one that I know of, other than Wilson.A good book to read at your leisure. Look for the futuristic, shiny blue book!

This book is classified as humor, and indeed it is very amusing. The ironic tone is maintained well, and the occasional jokes have a pretty good batting average at really being funny. However, the book is also quite factual in its discussions of the current state of progress on the various "Wonders of Tomorrow". Since so much of this involves actual robots, rocket planes, jetpacks, etc., that exist today (or at least existed at one time), you really want to see photos of these things. There are none at all in the book.By the way, I'm still waiting for the solar-powered electro-suspension car that I saw on the old "Disneyland" TV show.

This book deals with such ideas as hover cars, robot servants, and underwater hotels. And why some never got off the ground while others, while they exist, don't exist in the huge numbers they should. For example, we do have underwater hotels, well, a few, but nowhere near enough to make everybody happy. I want robotic maids, I want X-Ray specs, I want teleportation! Fun, full of facts and hopeful. Soon, soon we WILL have all this stuff. It just may take longer than we thought.

My son has read other books from this author and really enjoyed them. Easy transaction, item as described by seller. Would buy again.

I bought this book as a used book but it was in perfect condition just like brand new.

I remember when I was young we were promised so many things by the year 2000. I was realy looking forward to having a jet pack and or a flying car. 2000 came and went and we still don't have these things. I feel a little cheated. This book captured that a little.

This isn't a traditional book, but more of a Reader's Digest style collection of 2-4 page overviews of different technological subjects. It is an interesting look back on ideas that humans expended time and brain power on (in some cases a lot of each) that never really became part of mainstream society. I liked the fact that I could put it down and pick it back up a week later and never get lost, since each review is self contained.

Good book, some great gadgets and devices (which I really wish were here now!) but a little sparse on content - large print so less content

Compulsive reading

Great book. It's too short...because it's so addictive! If you're a geek you'll like it.

"Where's my Jetpack?" geht den Science-Fiction Klischees der 40er und 50er Jahre nach: Was ist wirklich geworden aus dem Jetpack, den Unterwasserhotels und der Röntgenbrille? Und überraschend oft lautet die Antwort: Gibt es schon, hat sich aber nicht durchgesetzt! Oder "Gibt es schon, aber in anderer Form als damals gedacht" (z.B. Rollende Bürgersteige sind heute auf jedem Flughafen zu finden - sie heißen nur anders). Die Zusammenstellung ist sinnvoll und das Buch ist gut recherchiert. Sehr oft hab ich gedacht: "Das gibts wirklich schon?" In den Fällen, in denen die Technik noch nicht so weit ist, gibt der Autor den Stand der Forschung an und zeigt Wege auf, ob und wie das "Ziel" erreicht werden könnte. Inhaltlich ist das Buch also wirklich gut. Es ist allerdings nicht wirklich dick und hat es an ein bis zwei langen Nachmittagen wohl durch.Der Stil des Autoren ist dabei gewöhnungsbedürftig - mir gefällt er zwar, aber die ironischen Bemerkungen passen hier etwas weniger als in den Roboter-Büchern. Dennoch: Durchaus empfehlenswert, wenn einem die Materie interessiert.