This week, Plugged In is attaching hooks to a giant sandworm and riding it across Arrakis to pick up some milk and bread.

Guess who’s still gallivanting around and actually on holiday right now? 

The answer is me, not John Krasinski or Jim Halpert. Just to be clear

And who would I be if I didn't suckle upon some low-hanging content fruit about traveling for this newsletter? So that's what we're going to do.

I've read a lot of sci-fi over the years.

One of the gifts these books have given me is complete and utter disappointment. They promise so much, yet the real world delivers so little.

Much of this I can get over. A flying car may be cool in my mindbrain, but, in reality, there's no way I'd want the common person in charge of a huge metal chunk hurtling across another dimension. 

Don't pretend you have no idea how this ended. JUSTICE FOR WHOMPING WILLOWS.

But... there is one bit of sci-fi technology that'll never forgive scientists for not creating. But I can only explain it with a convoluted detour, so buckle up.

In Dune, there’s a character called Baron Harkonnen.

(NOTE:  I made a podcast about the novel you should listen to).

For those who haven't read the book, he’s the most archetypal “bad” character you could imagine.

Picture all the stereotypes of an antagonist. Bald? Check. Fat? Check. Murderous? You betcha. A literal pedophille? Uhh... yeah. How'd you guess?

Despite these… shortcomings, there’s one bit of technology he uses that I covet.

Baron Harkonnen is such a CHONKSTER that he needs “anti-gravity devices known as suspensors to support his weight.”

And you know what this is? Genius. Pure, unadulterated genius. It's the work of a (mad)man operating on another level.

Yes, this is an actual clip from one of Dune's adaptations.

As someone who is currently dragging suitcases and bags down streets and onto tubes and off buses and into trains and up stairs, I’d give up a desert planet covered in rich spice to get myself some anti-gravity suspensors.

But nay! Modern technology has let me down.

Is it too much to ask for all my heavy stuff to be lifted as though I'm some sort of evil space baron? I think not, friends.

If you could send this newsletter to your local politician or scientist, I'd be forever grateful.

(P.S. We're keen to improve Plugged In and hear what you think about it, so head to the bottom of this email to give us your thoughts!)