You’re
probably thinking of a lot of frustrating delays, and of MLK’s “I have a
dream” speech. If you don’t know about MLK, you likely won’t recognize
RBF either, though most will know JFK and USSR.
However,
I’m thinking of a delay you may not be: the postponement of “smart”
houses (I’m putting off a definition). Instead, the Big Promise has been
“driverless cars” (aka “people movers” if you lived through the 1970s).
The autonomous vehicle fantasies have eclipsed the next generation of Florida mobile home.
If
a hurricane hits, Uncle Sam might have a FEMA trailer for you, but
R&D halted on better shelter technologies, except in the area of
high end camping (an outdoor sport).
You
may be wondering when “smart houses” were ever a dominant fantasy, in
which case I’ll point you first to the DDU (Dymaxion Deployment Unit),
admittedly obscure, and then to the first true Dymaxion House, which
hung from a utility mast but didn’t sway in the wind.
