The revolution will be unmanned—finally
■"Drones Will Be Used to Help Fight Wildfires: A way to track fast-moving flames while keeping firefighters safe," by Associated Press, New York Times, 28 August 2005, p. A13.
The U.S. military decides it needs secure transportation routes during nuclear war and the U.S. interstate system is born, revolutionizing the concept of travel and creating a global car culture that's sweeping Asia still today.
The U.S. military decides it needs secure comms during nuclear war and creates the Internet, revolutionizing the concept of information flows around the planet.
The U.S. military decides it needs to be able to locate people and things on the battlefield with great precision, and GPS is born, setting off a revolution in so many venues it's hard to track.
And the U.S. military decides it needs to be able to do things from the air while not putting airmen at risk, and unmanned aerial vehicles are born, and we're just about to see the revolution begin on that.
It would have arrived earlier, but 9/11 spooked us mightily. And yet, see how quickly America gets over it.
People say our short attention span is our greatest weakness. Frankly, I consider it our greatest strength.