Maybe its a child hood brought up with Transformers and random Japanese cartoons (Battle of the Planets), but I expected the future to be more futuristic. So to this end I would like to salute those designs available on the street today that do indeed look the way I expected the future too 
Nokia 7610
Its a smart phone, its frankly bonker’s looking and in red n’ Black it looks damn mean. Looks like a mad raygun meets a communicator.
Mazda RX8
It has a renesis rotary engine, lasers for lights and strange swing/suicide doors. Gets my vote, hardly subtle, but hay this is the Future after all.
Aiwa’s NX/PX range NetMDs
NX9
NX1
PX1
I was lucky enough to see the black and orange NX9 in a local Cash Generator for £10 over the new price. It looks amazing, sure its plastic, but the design is shockingly different to the clinical look of the iPod. The NX1 and PX1 both have some great machined finishes. I guess its a reflection of what you consider space age. US/UK consider the white Storm Trooper look to be futuristic, where as the Japanese have the flamboyant Anime Mecha scene to draw from. The technology is now quite far behind and Aiwa’s more recent efforts have been somewhat duller. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony have pinched the designer for themselves. I would love to see what Aiwa would come up with in iPod -a-like market. It would probably blow Sony’s own designs out of the water.
