Demilitarized Toys

"The first ICs were created in response to a demand from the military for miniaturized electronics to be used in missile control systems.[1]"

I once had a computer hardware course instructor at a tech school tell the whole class he believed in aliens because, to quote, "look at all the advanced technology that happened at around the same time we had the whole Area 51 cover-up".

In retrospect I should've said something like, "Um, much of our modern tech ideas were realized because of the pressure to invent/produce during wartime," which is to say, when war's over producers/consumers get lots of government patented, demilitarized toys to play with.

Similarly, if/when the war on terror blows over like the cold war did in the 80s, we'll be able to re-appropriate a lot of high technology otherwise invented to solve problems in wartime.

Like drone technology. Drone tech is just one example. Another: US patented sound-from-ultrasound technology (currently being used in sonic weapons). Sound-from-ultrasound tech can be re-appropriated to, for example, "audio spotlight" passengers in a car[2]. Imagine being able to jam out to your favorite song without headphones because no one else can hear it but you.

My armchair theory is that many technology exists in theory, it just takes the pressure of being at war to get it adequately funded/R&D'd. Another example is claytronics (physical dynamic rendering)[3]. Catoms are here. They already exist... in theory. But does the USG have any practical use for catom-based military equipment? Not yet.

"We don't always care about fringe technology," says Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty. "But when we do, we make it happen faster than a photon".

"Percy Spencer invented the first microwave oven after WWII from radar technology developed during the war"[4]. So it took a WORLD WAR to drive us towards inventing radar tech that would ultimately make it easier for us to cook food.

I wonder if the first instance of controlled fire happened under similar circumstances.

Thalag the Brilliant But Underfunded Homo Erectus happened to be part of a tribe that was up against seemingly insurmountable forces. Those forces of course being members of their own species. And for the longest time, the tribe ignored his obsession with controlling fire. Or, rather, they didn't ignore it per se. Just didn't think controlling it had any real value (plus experimentation caused a lot of damage).
Then the Others came and a great war broke out in the valley. Desperate, the tribe tapped into all of its resources, including Thalag. At first Thalag was all :-/ and then he was all "NEVER FEAR THALAG IS HERE! But first need this, this, this, this this this and this!"

And the tribe went out & gathered everything required to control the superhot demon made of dancing light. And they gave it to Thalag.

And Thalag went to work, building a fire so big and hot it tore through the valley, scattering warriors but leaving the animals unharmed.

After the war, the tribe documented all of Thalags secrets and gave him 1 MEELION dinosaur thighs for his technology.Some used his ideas to make flames to keep warm during the cold winter nights. Others used it to burn down trees of the dense bush and thickets of the crest. Still, others figured out even *better* ways to control it and the rest is history.
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1. How Products Are Made: Integrated Circuit http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Integrated-Circuit.html
2. Audio Spotlight Technology: http://www.holosonics.com
3. Claytronics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HsUb1m27Ng
4. Microwave Oven: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven