The Ultimate Toy.

This Christmas had me thinking about kids’ toys, and in particular the toy I always wanted from as far back as I can remember right up to my early teens. It didn’t exist as far as I know, and also as far as I know, it still doesn’t. But it could, and this is it:

I wanted a space capsule that I could climb into, close the hatches to shut out mundane reality, and then pilot off into deepest space to visit strange new worlds.

It seems to me that with computer technology and CGI facilities, the software for such a toy could be designed by any reasonably astute techno freak in his basement. The hardware would be an engineering job, of course, and so I expect the development costs would be fairly high. And it would be big – probably about the size of a single bed if it was to have a passenger seat behind or alongside the pilot’s – so you’d need a sizeable spare room, basement, shed or garage. Well, plenty of people have such facilities.

Would it sell? I don’t know, but I expect there would be millions of kids around the world who would want one, and a substantial proportion of their parents as well – especially dads who never quite grew up. And then there are all the schools and playgroups around the world. Given the right sort of design, it could even be an educational tool. And the more that were sold, the lower the unit price would be.

Am I beginning to sound like a capitalist, or am I still just a healthy fantasist?