Daniel Wilson

Where's My Jetpack

We've all seen the sort of futuristic life which science fiction promises us. But this is the future, so why don't we have colonies on the moon and Mars, and why aren't we surrounded by robots? In Where's My Jetpack?:A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived , Daniel Wilson looks at a number of futuristic technologies, and tell us if they have actually been implemented.

Jetpacks, it seems, were a popular idea in the 1960's, but never got anywhere. Likewise the fuel consumption and likelyhood of accidents means than flying cars have yet to replace ground based ones. Teleportation looks like the way ahead - but so far only works on single photons.

Robots pets are now becoming available, even if there's some way to go before robot servants will be doing our housework for us. If you're rich enough you can go on a space vacation, and you can even try to defeat death by having you're body frozen when you die, with the hope of being revived when medical technology improves.

The book has many other short articles explaining whether you might be able to get hold of futuristic devices, and would make an ideal gift for any sci-fi addicts that you know. It doesn't go too deeply into why society has rejected such ideas, but is just what you need for a bit of humourous reading to fill odd moments.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 192 pages
ISBN: 1596911360
Salesrank: 117603
Weight:0.7 lbs

Published: 2007 Bloomsbury USA

Amazon price $10.17

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 192 pages
ISBN: 0747582866
Salesrank: 66745
Weight:0.75 lbs

Published: 2007 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Amazon price £5.24

Marketplace:New from £1.99:Used from £1.75

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 192 pages
ISBN: 1596911360
Salesrank: 26096
Weight:0.7 lbs

Published: 2007 Bloomsbury US

Amazon price CDN$ 12.05

Marketplace:New from CDN$ 8.74:Used from CDN$ 14.11

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Product Description
It’s the twenty-first century and let’s be honest—things are a little disappointing. Despite every World’s Fair prediction, every futuristic ride at Disneyland, and the advertisements on the last page of every comic book, we are not living the future we were promised. By now, life was supposed to be a fully automated, atomic-powered, germ-free Utopia, a place where a grown man could wear a velvet spandex unitard and not be laughed at. Where are the ray guns, the flying cars, and the hoverboards that we expected? What happened to our promised moon colonies? Our servant robots? In Where’s My Jetpack?, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson takes a hilarious look at the future we always imagined for ourselves. He exposes technology, spotlights existing prototypes, and reveals drawing-board plans. You will learn which technologies are already available, who made them, and where to find them. If the technology is not public, you will learn how to build, buy, or steal it. And if doesn’t yet exist, you will learn what stands in the way of making it real. With thirty entries spanning everything from teleportation to self-contained skyscraper cities, and superbly illustrated by Richard Horne (101 Things to Do Before You Die), Where’s My Jetpack? is an endlessly entertaining, one-of-a-kind look at the world that we always wanted.

Product Description

It’s the twenty-first century and let’s be honest—things are a little disappointing. Despite every World’s Fair prediction, every futuristic ride at Disneyland, and the advertisements on the last page of every comic book, we are not living the future we were promised. By now, life was supposed to be a fully automated, atomic-powered, germ-free Utopia, a place where a grown man could wear a velvet spandex unitard and not be laughed at. Where are the ray guns, the flying cars, and the hoverboards that we expected? What happened to our promised moon colonies? Our servant robots?

In Where’s My Jetpack?, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson takes a hilarious look at the future we always imagined for ourselves. He exposes technology, spotlights existing prototypes, and reveals drawing-board plans. You will learn which technologies are already available, who made them, and where to find them. If the technology is not public, you will learn how to build, buy, or steal it. And if doesn’t yet exist, you will learn what stands in the way of making it real. With thirty entries spanning everything from teleportation to self-contained skyscraper cities, and superbly illustrated by Richard Horne (101 Things to Do Before You Die), Where’s My Jetpack? is an endlessly entertaining, one-of-a-kind look at the world that we always wanted.

I Got Yer Jetpack Right Here... ****
When I was little, my uncle collected newspaper clippings of various articles about the American foray into space. Like my father, he was a big fan of science fiction, so it was only natural that he bequeathed his collection to me. And for a little while, I kept it up. But eventually I got bored with it. For one, there wasn't anything new happening in space--certainly nothing on the scale of a lunar landing. For another, a lot of the optimistic predictions about space development weren't coming true and in fact were becoming something of a cliché. Where's My Jetpack? seemed like a response to that disillusionment, so I was glad I picked it up. The book is well-illustrated with blue and white line art of various subjects. The cover is reflective, and the pages are trimmed with shiny blue material so that it sparkles when you look at the book from the side. It looks like a gimmicky-type of book, the kind that has no useful information in it but that you put on your bookshelf to make everyone think you're smart. I'm pleased to report that Where's My Jetpack? actually has content in it worth reading. When it comes to science fiction and fact, I'm pretty well read. While I'm no engineer, I knew all about jetpacks, zeppelins, moving sidewalks, self-steering cars, flying cars, hoverboards, and teleportation. Fortunately, the author does too - and he nails each subject with just the right combination of humor and relevant information. Some of these topics are pretty esoteric -- for example, few people realize that we technically achieved teleportation years ago - but it's all here. There's other stuff I didn't know about. Anti-sleeping pills are a new one. I haven't kept up on universal translators or food pills, and I didn't know the status of space elevators. I'm also mildly creeped out by a section on dolphin guides, wherein a woman built a house for her "dolphin companion" and the dolphin started exhibiting "courting behavior." Ick. The fact that there's something in here for everyone makes the book worth the price. Although it's technically classified as humor, Where's My Jetpack? sometimes comes off as a little too eager to please, with jokes that are so topical the book will be horribly dated a decade out. Then again, the nature of the book probably guarantees it will be outdated anyway. Although the jokes sometimes fall flat, Where's My Jetpack? is a breezy, educational read. If you're still wondering why there's no robots serving you, why you can't fly to your neighbor's house in style, or why you still have to sleep a few hours each night, Where's My Jetpack will gleefully tell you why.

I Got Yer Jetpack Right Here... ****

When I was little, my uncle collected newspaper clippings of various articles about the American foray into space. Like my father, he was a big fan of science fiction, so it was only natural that he bequeathed his collection to me. And for a little while, I kept it up.

But eventually I got bored with it. For one, there wasn't anything new happening in space--certainly nothing on the scale of a lunar landing. For another, a lot of the optimistic predictions about space development weren't coming true and in fact were becoming something of a cliché. Where's My Jetpack? seemed like a response to that disillusionment, so I was glad I picked it up.

The book is well-illustrated with blue and white line art of various subjects. The cover is reflective, and the pages are trimmed with shiny blue material so that it sparkles when you look at the book from the side. It looks like a gimmicky-type of book, the kind that has no useful information in it but that you put on your bookshelf to make everyone think you're smart.

I'm pleased to report that Where's My Jetpack? actually has content in it worth reading. When it comes to science fiction and fact, I'm pretty well read. While I'm no engineer, I knew all about jetpacks, zeppelins, moving sidewalks, self-steering cars, flying cars, hoverboards, and teleportation. Fortunately, the author does too - and he nails each subject with just the right combination of humor and relevant information. Some of these topics are pretty esoteric -- for example, few people realize that we technically achieved teleportation years ago - but it's all here.

There's other stuff I didn't know about. Anti-sleeping pills are a new one. I haven't kept up on universal translators or food pills, and I didn't know the status of space elevators. I'm also mildly creeped out by a section on dolphin guides, wherein a woman built a house for her "dolphin companion" and the dolphin started exhibiting "courting behavior." Ick.

The fact that there's something in here for everyone makes the book worth the price. Although it's technically classified as humor, Where's My Jetpack? sometimes comes off as a little too eager to please, with jokes that are so topical the book will be horribly dated a decade out. Then again, the nature of the book probably guarantees it will be outdated anyway.

Although the jokes sometimes fall flat, Where's My Jetpack? is a breezy, educational read. If you're still wondering why there's no robots serving you, why you can't fly to your neighbor's house in style, or why you still have to sleep a few hours each night, Where's My Jetpack will gleefully tell you why.

Our future could have been so much cooler ****
So many of the inventions mentioned in this book sound like products from the Sharper Image or the SkyMall catalogs, and that's good and bad. It's good because almost everything I see in those catalogs makes me think "How cool" or "How interesting." It's bad, though, because I've never actually bought anything from either of those catalogs, and if the rest of the folks in this world are like me, they probably haven't either. Still, Wilson's treatise on the technological future we're missing out on is not only humorous and tongue-in-cheek but factual and realistically interesting the whole way through. I had no idea that actual underwater hotels existed, or that zeppelins are mounting a resurgence as luxury airliners. I wasn't aware of cryogenics other than rumors about Walt Disney and humorous stories about 70's super spies being frozen. While the illustrations by Richard Horne are fun and topical, it really would have been great to see pictures of the different devices and inventions about which Wilson writes. However, since this is obviously meant to be a fun, light reading type of book, the explanations and descriptions do not get too in depth, and neither do the visuals. It's as if Wilson just wants to tease his readers into further exploration and discovery on their own. And perhaps that's the point after all: with a little curiosity and research, ordinary people can become more entrenched in the science fiction devices that will become commonplace, and exert their influence now to affect our technological future. So, while I don't care about yelling and screaming "I want my jetpack," I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on what is available and possible and doing everything I can to make it a reality.

Our future could have been so much cooler ****

So many of the inventions mentioned in this book sound like products from the Sharper Image or the SkyMall catalogs, and that's good and bad. It's good because almost everything I see in those catalogs makes me think "How cool" or "How interesting." It's bad, though, because I've never actually bought anything from either of those catalogs, and if the rest of the folks in this world are like me, they probably haven't either.

Still, Wilson's treatise on the technological future we're missing out on is not only humorous and tongue-in-cheek but factual and realistically interesting the whole way through. I had no idea that actual underwater hotels existed, or that zeppelins are mounting a resurgence as luxury airliners. I wasn't aware of cryogenics other than rumors about Walt Disney and humorous stories about 70's super spies being frozen.

While the illustrations by Richard Horne are fun and topical, it really would have been great to see pictures of the different devices and inventions about which Wilson writes. However, since this is obviously meant to be a fun, light reading type of book, the explanations and descriptions do not get too in depth, and neither do the visuals.

It's as if Wilson just wants to tease his readers into further exploration and discovery on their own. And perhaps that's the point after all: with a little curiosity and research, ordinary people can become more entrenched in the science fiction devices that will become commonplace, and exert their influence now to affect our technological future.

So, while I don't care about yelling and screaming "I want my jetpack," I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on what is available and possible and doing everything I can to make it a reality.

Undoubtedly You've Pondered Where Are Many of These Future Technology Visions? Where's My JetPack? Gives some of the Answers! *****
There are a few books out there that have mastered the format of providing answers to scientific, medical or everyday myths in an entertaining, therefore easy to read non journal/textbook sounding way. Where's my Jetpack? however is the first of these great books, that I have come across anyway which tackles the imagined future of decades ago compared to the reality of that future time of being today. Many science fiction novels, TV shows and even advertisements on the back of comic books foretold a future of gadgets, transportation, robot helpers and living environments that would make life so much easier and interesting for your average human. Who hasn't had the conversation of where are the flying cars, underwater cities and so on with their friends at some stage. Even Seinfeld had an episode where George and Jerry brought this up. Up to now though no has provided the answers to why some of these things aren't around or in fact told us that some of them are. Where's My Jetpack? is a great short, fast, informative read that will provide you with lots of information to bring up these very questions again the next time you see your friends. I found Where's My JetPack to be really interesting. It might not go into the depth that some people want on each topic but it does provide enough info to know why something will never happen, or where the product can be found if it is already out there, if we can expect to ever see it in the future or that mankind had it but didn't want it (Smell O- Vision). A great example of a topic covered is the whole invisible man science fiction creation which although not invented by was made popular by H.G. Wells and authors since then such as H.F. Saint. I will readily admit I have been a huge fan of the fiction novels in this genre and Wilson's information on the whole miniature cameras and image projections in the cloak actually turns something you thought would always only be fiction into something that could feasibly become reality one day. I really hope some fiction authors use this cloak method and write some good fiction with it. Other stuff I had never even thought about was also very intriguing such as the elevator to space. I mean it makes sense when you think about it, we don't use jet propulsion to get to the 100th story of an office building so obviously this would be the safer, more cost effective way to get satellites, space station material and even people into space. I'd never even thought of that the sue companies for your own stupidity, that initially was born in the US and is now plaguing the world impacts future helpful to society inventions such as the moving sidewalk. We could right now have faster moving people movers at the airports and elsewhere right now if not for this greedy element of society. Where's My JetPack? is a very good book, I highly recommend it. If you are after other great entertaining as well as educational reads on science also check out Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths by Karl Kruszelnicki, Do Blue Bedsheets Bring Babies?: The Truth Behind Old Wives' Tales by Thomas Craughwell, Can You Drill a Hole Through Your Head and Survive?: 180 Fascinating Questions and Amazing Answers About Science, Health and Nature by Simon Rogers and Can a Guy Get Pregnant? : Scientific Answers to Everyday (and Not-So-Everyday) Questions by Bill Sones. Topics covered inside Where's My JetPack? are - The Jetpack Zepplins (Huge Goodyear type airships) Moving Sidewalks Self Steering/Flying Cars Hoverboard Teleportation Underwater & Space Hotels / Moon Colonies / Skyscraper Cities Dolphin Guides / Artificial Human Gills Holograms Smell O Vision Robot Pets / Servants / Smart House Mind Reading Devices / X-Ray Specs Anti - Sleeping Pill Invisible Camouflage Universal Translator Unisex Jumpsuit Food Pill Ray Guns Space Mirror / Elevator Cryogenic Freezing

Undoubtedly You've Pondered Where Are Many of These Future Technology Visions? Where's My JetPack? Gives some of the Answers! *****

There are a few books out there that have mastered the format of providing answers to scientific, medical or everyday myths in an entertaining, therefore easy to read non journal/textbook sounding way. Where's my Jetpack? however is the first of these great books, that I have come across anyway which tackles the imagined future of decades ago compared to the reality of that future time of being today. Many science fiction novels, TV shows and even advertisements on the back of comic books foretold a future of gadgets, transportation, robot helpers and living environments that would make life so much easier and interesting for your average human. Who hasn't had the conversation of where are the flying cars, underwater cities and so on with their friends at some stage. Even Seinfeld had an episode where George and Jerry brought this up. Up to now though no has provided the answers to why some of these things aren't around or in fact told us that some of them are. Where's My Jetpack? is a great short, fast, informative read that will provide you with lots of information to bring up these very questions again the next time you see your friends.

I found Where's My JetPack to be really interesting. It might not go into the depth that some people want on each topic but it does provide enough info to know why something will never happen, or where the product can be found if it is already out there, if we can expect to ever see it in the future or that mankind had it but didn't want it (Smell O- Vision).

A great example of a topic covered is the whole invisible man science fiction creation which although not invented by was made popular by H.G. Wells and authors since then such as H.F. Saint. I will readily admit I have been a huge fan of the fiction novels in this genre and Wilson's information on the whole miniature cameras and image projections in the cloak actually turns something you thought would always only be fiction into something that could feasibly become reality one day. I really hope some fiction authors use this cloak method and write some good fiction with it.

Other stuff I had never even thought about was also very intriguing such as the elevator to space. I mean it makes sense when you think about it, we don't use jet propulsion to get to the 100th story of an office building so obviously this would be the safer, more cost effective way to get satellites, space station material and even people into space. I'd never even thought of that the sue companies for your own stupidity, that initially was born in the US and is now plaguing the world impacts future helpful to society inventions such as the moving sidewalk. We could right now have faster moving people movers at the airports and elsewhere right now if not for this greedy element of society.

Where's My JetPack? is a very good book, I highly recommend it. If you are after other great entertaining as well as educational reads on science also check out Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths by Karl Kruszelnicki, Do Blue Bedsheets Bring Babies?: The Truth Behind Old Wives' Tales by Thomas Craughwell, Can You Drill a Hole Through Your Head and Survive?: 180 Fascinating Questions and Amazing Answers About Science, Health and Nature by Simon Rogers and Can a Guy Get Pregnant? : Scientific Answers to Everyday (and Not-So-Everyday) Questions by Bill Sones.

Topics covered inside Where's My JetPack? are -
The Jetpack
Zepplins (Huge Goodyear type airships)
Moving Sidewalks
Self Steering/Flying Cars
Hoverboard
Teleportation
Underwater & Space Hotels / Moon Colonies / Skyscraper Cities
Dolphin Guides / Artificial Human Gills
Holograms
Smell O Vision
Robot Pets / Servants / Smart House
Mind Reading Devices / X-Ray Specs
Anti - Sleeping Pill
Invisible Camouflage
Universal Translator
Unisex Jumpsuit
Food Pill
Ray Guns
Space Mirror / Elevator
Cryogenic Freezing

Intelligent and brilliant ****
"Where's My Jetpack?" is a great book, written in a fresh and cunnig style and with an amazing design. I think it could be an interesting compedium for all the mid-50 sci-fi fans who desire to know something about those incredible inventions they read about. I really enjoyed it.

Intelligent and brilliant ****

"Where's My Jetpack?" is a great book, written in a fresh and cunnig style and with an amazing design. I think it could be an interesting compedium for all the mid-50 sci-fi fans who desire to know something about those incredible inventions they read about. I really enjoyed it.

It ended up sitting on top of the toilet tank ***
It's a thin, thin book of little content. Funny? In places, but this is really a very lightweight little gift book. Someone should write a good take on the missing future, the science fiction that seemed to be near, but never showed up. Start with the "Gernsback Continuum" and go from there.

It ended up sitting on top of the toilet tank ***

It's a thin, thin book of little content. Funny? In places, but this is really a very lightweight little gift book. Someone should write a good take on the missing future, the science fiction that seemed to be near, but never showed up. Start with the "Gernsback Continuum" and go from there.

Are the internet and mobile phones the best we can do? ****
Where's My Jetpack perfectly sums up a regular whinge of mine. Why is the 21st century not as exciting as the future that science fiction promised? It also has to be the shiniest book I have read. I read it on the underground during my daily commute and I could see the sparkly pages constantly catching people's eyes. The book covers: Advanced transportation (jetpacks, zeppelins, moving sidewalks, self-steering cars, flying cars, hoverboards, teleportation) Future-tainment (underwater hotel, dolphin guides, space vacations, holograms, smell-o-vision, robot pets) Superhuman abilities (mind-reading, anti-sleeping pills, invisible camouflage, artificial gills, x-ray specs, universal translator) The home of the future (robot servants, unisex jumpsuits, smart houses, food pills, skyscrapper cities) Humans in space (ray gun, space mirror, space elevator, cryogenic freezing, moon colony) The book is fun and occasionally enlightening but the closest Wilson comes to a serious answer to his question is to blame the litigation culture. If we sue over hot coffee then imagine what fun lawyers would have with jetpacks and flying cars.

Are the internet and mobile phones the best we can do? ****

Where's My Jetpack perfectly sums up a regular whinge of mine. Why is the 21st century not as exciting as the future that science fiction promised?

It also has to be the shiniest book I have read. I read it on the underground during my daily commute and I could see the sparkly pages constantly catching people's eyes.

The book covers:

Advanced transportation (jetpacks, zeppelins, moving sidewalks, self-steering cars, flying cars, hoverboards, teleportation)
Future-tainment (underwater hotel, dolphin guides, space vacations, holograms, smell-o-vision, robot pets)
Superhuman abilities (mind-reading, anti-sleeping pills, invisible camouflage, artificial gills, x-ray specs, universal translator)
The home of the future (robot servants, unisex jumpsuits, smart houses, food pills, skyscrapper cities)
Humans in space (ray gun, space mirror, space elevator, cryogenic freezing, moon colony)

The book is fun and occasionally enlightening but the closest Wilson comes to a serious answer to his question is to blame the litigation culture. If we sue over hot coffee then imagine what fun lawyers would have with jetpacks and flying cars.

Build your own hoverboard! *****
Robots, cyborgs, and strange planets with their own languages - it sometimes appears that anything and everything is possible in books. Real life, by comparison, seems so drab. Where, demands Daniel Wilson, is the stuff of wonder, all that cool gear we were guaranteed? Where's My Jetpack? A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived is a nonfiction book for kids and adults that itemizes the sleek chrome Tomorrowland we were meant to inherit. How close have we come to attaining our Jetsons-style destiny? Sadly, not very, concludes the author, who writes about even complex science with an enviable competence and humour. Find out how to build your own hoverboard, learn how close we are to (finally) developing reliable rebreathers, and get the inside scoop on how to book your own berth on a revamped zeppelin. It's none of it as cool as we were promised, but hey, at least we haven't let the robots take over yet.

Build your own hoverboard! *****

Robots, cyborgs, and strange planets with their own languages - it sometimes appears that anything and everything is possible in books. Real life, by comparison, seems so drab. Where, demands Daniel Wilson, is the stuff of wonder, all that cool gear we were guaranteed? Where's My Jetpack? A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived is a nonfiction book for kids and adults that itemizes the sleek chrome Tomorrowland we were meant to inherit. How close have we come to attaining our Jetsons-style destiny? Sadly, not very, concludes the author, who writes about even complex science with an enviable competence and humour. Find out how to build your own hoverboard, learn how close we are to (finally) developing reliable rebreathers, and get the inside scoop on how to book your own berth on a revamped zeppelin. It's none of it as cool as we were promised, but hey, at least we haven't let the robots take over yet.