[msluyter]

Ahhh, idle speculation...

Re: flying cars -- I think that even if all technical problems were resolved, an economic/legal problem would remain. In a car, if you crash, the externality is usually limited to the cars around you -- other drivers who have implicitly agreed to share in the risk of driving via insurance and whatnot.

In a flying car world, the externality of crashing (not sure if that's the right economic phraseology) is now shared by everyone below you -- people who want nothing to do with that risk. This isn't a huge problem with airplanes because we have a vast regulatory apparatus to mitigate the risk. Would be feasible with individuals routinely flying their cars over populated areas? Seems doubtful.

TL;DR - I wouldn't trust my neighbor to fly over my house, much less my kid's school.

Now, if all flying cars were AI controlled, that might be another story...