[fleitz]

Totally incorrect synopsis, humanity IS on the quest for speed.

What killed the Concorde was not that humanity was no longer looking for faster ways to communicate, it's that most of their customers died during 911. For the rest of us Twitter / Email, Skype fill the role of quick highly personal information dissemination.

Companies like SpaceX and Virgin who dare to explore the boundaries of human travel will take humanity to ever greater heights. They are picking up the torch where the government left it in 1969. One of those two companies will eventually partner with FedEx to offer New York to Sydney 'yesterday afternoon' service. The companies that can capitalize on that kind of mobility and speed will rocket infront of their competitors.

[potatolicious]

Not to mention we're throwing much more effort into getting people moving faster, every day, instead of throwing all of our resources getting the ultra-rich faster, sometimes.

Think advances in high speed rail, infrastructure development in mass transit everywhere (except North America, it seems)... Instead of pouring billions into a few showpieces like the Concorde, we're finally working on getting everyone moving faster, more frequently. This is a good thing.

[wladimir]

Unmanned craft have left us in the dust

Exactly -- we don't need fast human travel anymore. Our thoughts can travel all over the planet with almost the speed of light.

Travel is risky (however exciting), slow, consumes a lot of resources and causes pollution.