Oh Nikola Tesla, where have you gone?

Nikola Tesla was the greatest mind America has ever seen. It's a fact! Directly because of him, we have cheap and efficient electricity in our homes, we have broadcast radio, and we could’ve had particle beam weapons if only the military would’ve taken on his contract.

One of the coolest things he invented was broadcast power. He built a transmitter (look up Wardenclyffe Tower) in New York that could’ve powered the entire city easily. But then his earlier patents expired, reducing his royalties and thus his primary source of funding for the project. And once they realized that broadcast power meant *free* power, his other backers dropped out.

What I’m saying is that in 1900, Nikola Tesla almost gave us broadcast power, and broadcast wireless telecommunications. If Tesla had the support he needed, we could've had widespread 3G phone coverage, Wifi everywhere, and wireless power in place everywhere by 1950. Now, sure, the consumer technology wouldn't have been ready by then, but that infrastructure would have spurred on its development.

Which means we also would surely have jetpacks by now.

Coincidentally, after his death, the US military seized all of Tesla’s research notes and laboratories. And no doubt locked them away in a secure facility guarded by “Top Men.”

So that’s why we don’t have jetpacks and lightsabers. That’s why we’re only now getting handheld computers and smartphones. And that’s why I have to drag that danged power cord from room to room with my laptop, causing me to repeatedly trip over it, snag it on furniture, and nearly drop my beloved computer. And THAT’s why my ankle hurts.

Now drinking: Pyramid's Audacious apricot ale (theirs are good summer beers) while listening to Rob Zombie's Educated Horses.