Jetpack has now been invented by inventor Glenn Martin; flies up to 2 metres in the air (higher tests coming soon), to be sold for $100,000

This is on the front page of the New York Times right now: an inventor from New Zealand has invented a jetpack that the NYT reporter was able to try out in a video that you can see on the site.

Right now it's heavy, noisy, and doesn't fly all that far, but it still works. And as the inventor said, quoting Benjamin Franklin:

So far, he said, he and his team of developers have not taken the device higher than six feet. “We set that very deliberately,” he said, to ensure that they fully understand controlling the invention before taking it to more dangerous altitudes. “If you can fly it at 3 feet, you can fly it at 3,000,” he said.

Only 12 people have flown the jetpack, and no one has gained more than three hours of experience in the air. Mr. Martin plans to take it up to 500 feet within six months. This time, he said with a smile, he will be the first.

Mr. Martin said he had no idea how his invention might ultimately be used, but he is not a man of small hopes. He repeated the story of Benjamin Franklin, on first seeing a hot-air balloon, being asked, “What good is it?” He answered, “What good is a newborn baby?”

IALs (international auxiliary languages) are the same way, by the way.