You only say that because you haven’t been with the UT/Flying Castle since the beginning.
I figure if you can think about the plausibility of an action/event, it will eventually take place. Dick Tracy had a wrist radio, back when it was “sci-fi” but we have things that are much more sophisticated today.
Still, I can appreciate your thoughts.
(If you’d like to FReepmail your story to me, I would be honored to read it!)
Heck, they have transmitters that are implantable so you can apparently talk to “yourself” without holding an obvious radio.
They have two way communication systems that are wearable, they are built into clothing.
Commercially feasable yet?
No, only usable currently for unique special specific applications.
Back in the late 1980s I wrote a magazine article about the need for larger displays (14” VGA was the common display at the time). Now large displays are common.
When at Compaq in the early half of the 90s I suggested a wireless standard that would allow any device you brought near to your computer to identify itself and load its drivers into the computer. USB did that, without the wireless. Give it a little more time.
I also suggested putting Windows in the new-fangled Flash BIOS. Now you can buy a computer with a Flash drive as the primary storage and, it has Windows 8 on it (Windows 8 - shudder).
All that to say, I can imagine a good gadget that will become reality, but I’m beginning to despair of any advance that requires courage. We are no longer the home of the brave, we are the home of the eternal safety net.
My story actually assumed we’d try again as an international consortium, subsidizing space until it became profitable. But the Earthworms became impatient and wanted to spend the money on other things, so it had to be shut down.
To boldly retreat ... as it were.
I’ll copy-edit the story this weekend and share.