Flying Cars

In my favorite article of all time, George Packer mentions what is arguably Peter Thiel’s most famous quote: “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.“ In other words, according to Thiel, technology progressed, but not in the right direction. Technology reached a standstill, or there is a stagnation currently.” I don’t consider this to be a technological breakthrough,” he said (of his iPhone). “Compare this with the Apollo space program.“

I’ve thought a lot about this statement, and what it means. Is it right, and are we really stagnating? Or is he completely off-track? Most people think its the latter. We’ve got virtual reality, drone delivery, 3D printing of houses and body parts. There’s progress, however incremental on almost all fronts. Technology has crept into every aspect of existence. There is progress, and lots of it. As Thiel’s "intellectual sparring partner” Marc Andreessen is often said to quote, “ The future is already here, its just not evenly distributed.”

Yet I honestly don’t know what to think. The kind of future Thiel and his ardent followers are talking about is a future where technology helps eradicate diseases, aging, poverty. Floating cities, extended lives, tissue regeneration, the boldest of ideas you can think of. A world where technology brings changes in politics, in governance, in healthcare, in education and more. A world, literally, with flying cars. Do we really need to pat our backs for the advent of a service with 140 characters, and not feel constrained that we haven’t solved the big problems yet?

I guess that’s where his frustration is coming from, as he looks down at his iPhone.