As Crooked Timber reports, today is the last flight of the Concorde.
So sad.
I find it amazingly ironic that, when I was born, we were both sending Men to the Moon and flying paying passengers between Europe and America at supersonic speeds. As of tomorrow, we can and will do neither.
I had a conversation with Scott a couple of weeks ago about RAMjets and SCRAMjets, SSTOs used for antipodal flights, and other such possible supersonic transports.
Do we need such beasts, with teleconferencing, the Internet, and other means of communication? Does someone really need to fly at supersonic speeds for anything more than just a whim? (And of course, do we need a manned presence on the Moon)?
In any event, speaking of the irony and the mixed bag of progress in transportation, I daresay that, during rush hour, it likely takes much longer today than 20 years ago to go from Los Angeles to San Diego, or Minneapolis to Duluth, or New York to Philadelphia, thanks to the rise in traffic.
Posted by Jvstin at October 24, 2003 10:11 AM