XPost: sci.astro, sci.physics, sci.space.policy   
   From: fjmccall@gmail.com   
      
   Doc O'Leary   wrote:   
      
   >For your reference, records indicate that   
   >Fred J. McCall  wrote:   
   >   
   >> Doc O'Leary   wrote:   
   >>   
   >> >Just the opposite!  If I can only fly between airports, why not just call   
   >> >it an airplane?  What actual problem does a ?flying car? otherwise solve   
   >> >that make it such a fantastic machine to have?  What is the actual use   
   >> >case that demonstrates *any* added value?   
   >>   
   >> Asked and answered.   
   >   
   >No, it wasn’t.  Where’s the use case?  I’m a guy sitting in my office   
   >and I get a call telling me I need to get to X (home or hospital,   
   >Detroit or Paris).  I know all the tradeoffs of the current solutions   
   >to that problem.  What is the *actual* benefit a flying car offers in   
   >a world where everyone’s a pilot, but I still have to go to an   
   >airport, inspect the machine to verify it is airworthy, take care of   
   >necessary FAA paperwork, etc.?   
   >   
      
   Same as the case for GA aircraft.  You need a car at both ends of the   
   flight.  So why not a single device?  You probably resisted the idea   
   of putting PDA functionality on cell phones, too.   
      
   >   
   >> Do you know what a GA airplane is?  I think you just asserted that   
   >> they make no sense, yet lots of people have them.   
   >   
   >A lot of people own a lot of things that make very little sense.  I’m   
   >not asking about that segment of the population.  I’m asking about   
   >the people who are more thoughtful about their behaviors.  Can you   
   >make the case to *them* that flying cars are actually a good idea?   
   >   
      
   Why do I need to?  Make the case for a car, period, to someone who   
   lives in the Amazon jungle.  The fact that there is no such case   
   doesn't mean cars are useless.   
      
      
   --   
   "Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar   
    territory."   
                                         --G. Behn   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)