I'm talking about things that have been around a long time and you think would have made huge strides but, just stagnated.
#1 on my list has to be automatic "rain sensing" windshield wipers. This technology has been around for 30 years and it still sucks. Wipers move too fast, too slow, when the window is dry, or not at all when it is wet.
Maybe a slight exaggeration but, regardless of the car (Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, Minivan) they all perform about the same. You would think by now they'd have it perfected.
What items would be on your list?
Mumbling, "what the fuck?"
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...America.
generation was told we would achieve it in next 20 years. The professors in 1950s told their students so. When these students became professors in 1970s they told their students so again. When students of 1970s became professors in 1990s they told their students so again... Today a lot professors still are saying we can achieve fusion power in next 20 years. They may be right, they may be wrong just like their predecessors. But fusion power, seems very straightforward and very achievable, actually is full of tricks and has been fooling us for almost 70 years.
time has anyone implied that we were "so close" to achieving commercial power from that source. Those who truly understand the technology, realize the challenges of sustaining reactions, as well as finding materials that will allow a plant to last long enough for a return on the investment.
But we need to keep trying since the concept is the one truly sustainable and dispatchable power source for humankind.
20-30 years away when talking about fusion nuclear. The point is many periods of 20-30 years have passed since they made the initial such claim in 1950s.
understand the as yet unsolved problems inherent to achieving sustained fusion, and then maintaining it long enough to be commercially viable...here's an excerpt from the attached IAEA article...you won't find any prediction on WHEN the promise of Fusion Power will be realized.
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Reaching for the stars
While the sun’s massive gravitational force naturally induces fusion, without that force a higher temperature is needed for the reaction to take place. On earth, we need temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius and intense pressure to make deuterium and tritium fuse, and sufficient confinement to hold the plasma and maintain the fusion reaction long enough for a net power gain, i.e. the ratio of the fusion power produced to the power used to heat the plasma.
While conditions that are very close to those required in a fusion reactor are now routinely achieved in experiments, improved confinement properties and stability of the plasma are needed. Scientists and engineers from all over the world continue to test new materials and design new technologies to achieve fusion energy.
Nuclear fusion and plasma physics research are carried out in more than 50 countries, and fusion reactions have been successfully achieved in many experiments, albeit without demonstrating a net fusion power gain. How long it will take to recreate the process of the stars will depend on mobilizing resources through global partnerships and collaboration.
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Don't just read attention getting headlines...dig deeper.
Link: https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/what-is-fusion-and-why-is-it-so-difficult-to-achieve
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We essentially have the same options that have been available for a century: Condoms, Pulling Out, or Abstinence.
Female Contraceptive options have evolved with the pill, the shot, female condoms,, the sponge, diaphragms, hormonal implants, i.u.d.'s, patches.
A company called Vasagel developed a totally reversible injection that blocks the canal and can be dissolved with direct infrared. This means it's not only a great permanent option for those wanting a less uncomfortable vasectomy, but a terrific option for a guy in his 20's who wants to wait to start a family.
This was several years ago. Still not available.
(Condoms themselves are almost their own category. They're no better in terms of enjoying the ride than they were 30-plus years ago.)
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The only one they've ever developed clobbers your Testosterone so badly that it offsets the benefit. And stopping millions of swimmers via a drug isn't otherwise scientifically feasible.
But an injectable gel into the canal, a "clip" of some sort that can be inserted and then removed, or some other variation thereof. I would think tons of men would sign up for this.
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only now is that technology getting serious support in licensing and funding….
It’s safe…EBR-2 had its coolant pumps shut offf and all control rods removed while at full power….on purpose…it smoothly came down to zero on its own.
It’s a nuclear “Trash Compactor” that dramatically reduces both the toxicity and volume of nuclear waste.
What’s not to like?…why wait 73 years?
Link: https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/9-notable-facts-about-worlds-first-nuclear-power-plant-ebr-i
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1. Cling wrap. You may as well attach a butter knife to the box. The standard cutter on the boxes is completely inadequate to cut it and has been like this throughout my lifetime.
2. Automatic line fed gas trimmers/weedeaters. I have owned and used most brands. After a certain point, and far too soon, they just stop working. This is what led to the various plastic and metal cutting blades, but those have their own problems. With the metal ones, you can cut off your leg at the ankle. The plastic/vinyl ones wear quickly if you use them often and on anything tougher than the softest Bermuda grass.
3. I swear I'm not stealing this from a great Brian Regan bit, but ironing boards. I drew this conclusion before I ever saw his bit. I like pressed clothes, so I use ironing boards often. I've owned many, I've used numerous ones in hotels and BNBs, at other peoples' houses. They all suck to varying degrees. They're all unstable and thus easily tipped with a raging hot iron sitting atop them. I'm like the anti-engineer, but even I can start to conceive of a design that would be much more stable, yet still be foldable.
4. I guess this qualifies as tech, or maybe not, but interface on websites and systems. Webpages and systems grow less and less intuitive. Part of intelligence requires making things simpler, not unnecessarily complicated.
5. I totally agree on wipers. Anything beyond a very light rain, and I will just turn them onto the continuous setting. But I would expand it to the cockpits and buttons of contemporary cars. I literally do not know what half the buttons in our SUV do. No idea. I have a base model Ranger among our vehicles and it's a joy to drive it and know exactly what does what, with a minimum of the dreaded buttons. Oh, and it also terrific to not have to worry about the power windows going out, among other things. I have seriously considered combing wide and finding the proverbial 1990s Town Car, Crown Vic, or Le Sabre being sold by an 80 year-old with 60,000 miles on it. Hardly anything is electronic, easy to work on, and, if maintained, will run for a long, long time.
Good call out. Refeeding the line is a perpetual pain in the ass.
Typically lasts half the summer and the replacement blade on Amazon’s about $7-8….best investment…hated the string ones…all my outdoor equipment is battery powered now, also very smart move…quiet, no smell, no pollution…does the job as well if not better
I will welcome a nuclear holocaust when the first car rolls off the assembly line that you have to drive by sliding your fingers across a touchscreen.
I'm honestly not sure I can ever buy a new car. I should probably buy a few used ones now, and pay to have them mothballed, and then I can roll them out as needed, when everyone else is driving 100% touchscreen vehicles.
My fortune for a radio with buttons!
It’s literally a automotive computer on wheels…and a hell of a sports car
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Good list. The auto fed lines on weed eaters are horrible. Always have been.
Too many clickers. Too many buttons. Too many steps.
Agree. They've actually gotten worse in some ways.
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