Which realization of a “future” technology was most disappointing for you?

[Maximum7]

For me, it was Virtual reality. When I was a kid; I wanted to play in something like the Matrix. When Oculus Rift emerged a few years ago; it was overpriced and overhyped. It was nothing like I wanted. I played Vader Immortal at a Dave and Busters and it was fun sure, but it isn’t true VR; at least the type I want.

Also, due to the pandemic and the isolation anxiety felt during the lockdown; it is very unlikely that future humans will stay at home playing all day and living in virtual worlds. The phrase “Touch grass” really rings true for most humans.

Also Meta’s, Metaverse was another colossal disappointment and really took the fun out of VR

What about you. What has the future “delivered” that wasn’t what you were “promised”?

[Yuli Ban]

As of right now, VR by far.
I used to fantasize about VR a decade ago. I have great "modern nostalgia" for that era of VR between late 2013 and around mid 2016 where I'd regularly watch VR reaction videos of people falling over, freaking out at extremely basic rollercoaster rides. Kind of like a modern version of that apocryphal tale of how audiences ran away from that movie of a train arriving at a station circa 1896, except real because there were loads of videos about it. And this for the Oculus Rift devkit, not even the consumer version.
I never watch ecelebs so I couldn't tell you much about the lore of Markeplier or Jacksepticeye, but you can bet I watched their Rift videos as well as other smaller YouTubers' videos constantly.
Back on the old forum and KurzweilAI, we'd fantasize and speculate about VR often. Remember when we were sure that CV1 was definitely going to launch with 4k screens and foveated rendering in 2014, 2015 at the latest? Heck we even prescribed unrelated developments to VR— a 4k phone that was shown off around 2014 was "obviously testing for a 4k Rift" and showing that it was technically possible; GTA5's first person mode was "obviously" meant to take advantage of VR; that movie Oculu was a thinly veiled hype piece for the Rift!!
We had mobile VR scams meant to fill the void too. I remember even thinking that it was the Future because you could buy a mobile VR headset at a dollar store. And I'd just daydream about using VR to recapture that nostalgic "feeling of mind" I had at times in my childhood, imagining a far future iteration that would let me reexperience my childhood reconstructed through my memories, other's recollections of the same area, and archival news.

So frenzied was that hype that people heralded VR as the next step in human evolution and would get violently defensive against claims it was overhyped.

There was all this boundless optimism and excitement over what VR might be.

MIGHT be.

Because as the reality played out ever since my first rumblings of VR hype watching that Oculus Rift Mirror's Edge playthrough almost exactly a decade ago now, it's just not there yet.


All the critics saying VR was dying or is dead aren't true. VR isn't dead until it's rotting in the state of near nonexistence it was in between 1997 and 2012, where worldwide yearly headset sales could be measured with triple digit numbers.
But the much more reasonable criticism that it needed another decade of hardware improvement before primetime seems to have proven true. Last gen VR debuted at least 8 years too soon. The only benefit was triggering a huge wave of software development so that there'd actually be something there as a foundation for when VR relaunches in a much more capable state. But otherwise, VR has been a grave disappointment. It's lucky that the hardware and software to make it profitable exists. If the Rift took off in the 2000s, I think investment would dry up to deathly levels.

When you can buy the Quest 2 at a dollar store— new, unused, as an afterthought purchase of $49— then that is when I'll say VR is both not prohibitively expensive to get into and has enough juice to create immersive experiences. When the Varjo XR-3 is a standard $399 headset, then I'll figure that the hardware is able to realize its early promises of incredible immersion. When you can get VR goggles that don't feel uncomfortable to wear, that's when it won't look too goofy to use.
And the final frontier is a neurocontroller rather than just motion controls.

Until then, it's certainly my pick for "most hyped tech that had the least impact" that's not vaporware.

[FuturismFan]

For me, it was Virtual reality. When I was a kid; I wanted to play in something like the Matrix. When Oculus Rift emerged a few years ago; it was overpriced and overhyped. It was nothing like I wanted. I played Vader Immortal at a Dave and Busters and it was fun sure, but it isn’t true VR; at least the type I want.

Also, due to the pandemic and the isolation anxiety felt during the lockdown; it is very unlikely that future humans will stay at home playing all day and living in virtual worlds. The phrase “Touch grass” really rings true for most humans.

Also Meta’s, Metaverse was another colossal disappointment and really took the fun out of VR

What about you. What has the future “delivered” that wasn’t what you were “promised”?

I agree with you. VR was something that I was excited for, but now I think it's a total flop. It has no real use outside of playing video games, and even then the games themselves are pretty terrible. VR reminds me of 3D TVs - a technology that looks good on paper but is a total fail in reality. It doesn't matter how realistic the graphics are - nobody cares about VR headsets. FIVR is different I think (like the Matrix, no goggles, plugging directly into your mind or something). But FIVR technology is a long way away, and doesn't have anything to do with modern VR glasses.

Another technology that has been a disappointment are voice-based assistants like Alexa. While they are useful in some circumstances (while driving, if you are disabled), I don't think people realized how inconvenient it is to speak as opposed to typing. Imagine trying to make a post on this forum with voice controls!

[funkervogt]

"Videophones"

Everyone looks bad on camera, and it has no advantages over voice only telephone calls most of the time.

[Tadasuke]

When I recently read my notes from 2010, I realised I didn't want most of the stuff we are presented and advertised with:
- I didn't want smartphones (too annoying, uncomfortable and time-wasting)
- I didn't want smarwatches (useless)
- I didn't want fitness bands (useless)
- I didn't want VR goggles (I wanted FIVR or AR glasses)
- I didn't want overly realistic games (I wanted beautiful and cute stylised games, with extremely strong staying power, huge open worlds, building own homes/bases/castles (but not like in Minecraft...), smarter AI and everything better than irl)
- I didn't want smart appliances
- I didn't want social networks (VR group meetings instead)
- I didn't want remote working
- I didn't want cryptocurrencies (I hate that sh*t)
- I didn't want spam bots
- I didn't want sex-obsessed society on the other hand and ugly unsexy realism on the other hand
- I didn't want kids and teens addicted to smartphones and social media (what will become of them?)
- I didn't want NFTs (I hate that sh*t)
- I didn't want microtransactions, mobile or short-lived games (I can accept a handheld like the Switch, but more powerful and better made)
- I didn't want other stuff that I don't enjoy

I'm pretty much disappointed with everything the "future" (the present) has to offer. It sucks hard. Sorry to say that.

[weatheriscool]

I'll tell you what I do want!
-Womb transfers for biological males
-some means to make your body produce estrodial.
-Maybe one day everyone could be born with the ability to carry a baby and have children without the need of another person.
-Mind uploading of knowledge. No more school!
-Teleportation. Go from point A to point B within seconds. Fucking dream my friends.

Also I don't mind online work as some people have disabilities and find it easier to work online.

I'd say a lot of things are disappointing to me. A.i is interesting and could become much more interesting but at this point it isn't quite there yet. Another is robotics. At this point you'd think the fucking thing should have been wiping your ass and serving every need you ever had but in reality it literally is only for corporations or rich people and doesn't do 1/10th of what was predicted. Lastly, Driverless cars! The fucking thing crashes every 5 seconds and is banned in most of the country because of it! What a joke. Been predicted for the past 80 years but isn't there yet. lol

[Vakanai]

Actually I'm not disappointed in VR - remember I do not want to live in the Matrix! For me VR has always been about entertainment, a replacement or enhancement of video games and televisions or laptops. It's not a "you will live your whole life in fivr and like it" thing with me. I'm more interested in what the technology can accomplish for us in this world - AR/MR. And we're finally starting to see actual promise on the AR front just as VR is almost ready to be a decent videogame console. That's all I've ever wanted from the tech, not SAO or RPO, so that we're almost at "Nintendo level game competitor" feels right and exciting to me. So, not growing up on dreams of full dive fivr VR, the technology is actually starting to reach that almost worthwhile point where it's actually becoming interesting and exciting for me.

Now, for future technology that is actually disappointing for me? Where the reality is so far from the promise that it kinda sucks? Voice assistants. They're of no real assistance at all besides as an alarm clock/timer/white noise machine/radio combo - and even as a "smart" radio it's not that great since it'll misunderstand you sometimes and just not know what you're asking it for (was gaming once and asked for "fighting music" - it thought I asked for "farting" music - I discovered that it didn't matter how clearly and precisely I said "fighting" it would always assume "farting music" - funny in hindsight, frustrating and unpleasant in the moment).

Sure AI will improve this eventually, but when? Because right now these assistants are just so painfully limited. I want Jarvis from Iron Man, but what I have is a white noise machine that keep keeps asking me if I want to pay for premium service before bed.

[Tadasuke]

Maybe one day everyone could be born with the ability to carry a baby and have children without the need of another person.

Ok, but what about the non-trivial problem, that babies did not ask to be born?

People basically force babies into living and then nature and society tells them what to do, how to behave, etc.

[Ken_J]

Nano-tech. we should be well past the passive materials phase. and I'm angry that what little we did get was squandered on bullshit like anti foot smell socks and golf clubs.

We should be able to create billion extruder array nano-carbon 3d printers that can print diamond structures with nanotube nano-circuits built in and rechargable nano-batteries and textile solar cells. so that we could make damn near everything we need from a simple desk top replicator outside of food, water and other chemical components of existence.

We should have entire roof arrays of carbon based solar cells, feeding into carbon battery banks, that power the replicators that can print replacemts for those things, print dishes, and clothes, and appliances, and filtration systems for rain run off for the roof. solar charging for carbon battery cars you can print and build. build plates, physical books, print clothes, and all the parts of a greenhouse with vertical stacked aeroponic food growth.

and nearly as importantly recycle broken or no longer needed things back into carbon raw stock for printing, all non-carbon components of waste rendered inert and encapsuled for recycling.

we should be able to clean our waters with easily printed filters of nano-carbon. air and soil too. all using way less power than we do now.

we should be building super materials that make space flight easy enough that everybody could experience it at least once. if we haven't begun work on space elevators and lunar resorts. all possible because of addative nano-scale low energy rapid printing.

I want my drexlerian future damn it.

[weatheriscool]

Instead we have a bunch of religious assholes that are similar to the taliban wanting to wipe out freedom, limit such tech and gut any investment in the safetynet let alone education and major science projects. It is pretty fucking sad. China in a lot of ways is one of the few bright spots.