It is the year two thousand seven.
At Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis is strapping in, preparing for a flight to the International Space Station. They carry a large truss segment and solar panels which will give the station the power it needs for the European and Japanese modules which will be added later.
A live camera in the cockpit shows the astronauts. The image is sent around the world via satellite; in Colorado the satellite feed is downloaded, converted and uploaded to a DirecTV satellite; a small parabolic dish on my rooftop in Fate, Texas recieves and converts this signal, and feeds it into a Series 2 Tivo.
I take out my Treo cell phone and run the Slingbox Mobile client. Using a high-speed UMTS connection, the client connects to the router on my broadband Internet connection in Fate, which port forwards to the Slingbox connected to the Tivo. The Slingbox digitizes and streams the Tivo's output, allowing me to watch the astronauts on my phone.
Sure, I don't have a Jet Pack yet, but the 21st century is still pretty cool.
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