Re: Open-Source Armchair Critics At It Again

On 7/27/26 00:42, rbowman wrote:
> On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 21:23:57 -0400, c186282 wrote:
> 
>>     They DID promise atomic-powered cars back when I was a little kid.
>>     Wonder what happened ?
> 
> Ford didn't make any promises with the Nucleon. It was a concept based on
> small, lightweight reactors becoming available in the future. Never
> happened.
> 
> I do remember Chrysler's turbine car from the '64 World's Fair. There were
> working prototypes but that didn't prove out either.

   Turbines aren't great for automobiles.

   We CAN make 'em cheap enough now - but they are
   not very fuel efficient and take too long to
   wind up and down.

   So, no "Batmobiles".

   "Hybrids", using a small constant-speed diesel
   as the recharge generator ... those can be
   very efficient.

   40s/50s, some of the 60s ... "atomic" everything
   was the big promise. Radiation ? No, no - "sunshine
   units" !  :-)

   Everything from yer wristwatch to yer flying car,
   PLUTONIUM POWERED !!! They'll pay YOU for using
   the excess power !!!

   Of course it was all just cover for the excessive
   atmospheric bomb-testing in the southwest. Ain't
   the Marlboro's that killed the cowboys, it was
   the FALLOUT.

   Found a map once - NOT a good picture.

   I'm old enough to have seen those old news and
   docu-series TV shows. Fuzzy TV with static.
   My fave was "Union Carbide's - The 21st Century -
   with Walter Cronkite". Walter really was a
   tech enthusiast. You were promised 'atomic'
   everything - including the flying cars - and
   you MIGHT be able to have a COMPUTER that'll
   just squeeze in yer hall closet with enough power
   to calc yer tax bill and remember some meat-loaf
   recipes !