Recovery Reading
Dec. 19th, 2006 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperI went back to work today although I'm still recovering from this weekend's food poisoning episode.
Now, the thing about food poisoning is that it gives you the remarkable opportunity to spend a lot of time on the toilet. For me, this means a chance to catch up on my reading. Thus, in the past few days I've read all of the current comics that had piled up to be read and have annihilated the back issue stack, reading through everything I had of Beyond, The Maze Agency, 1602: New World, Kurt Busiek's Conan, and so on.
It was with some pleasure then that I found that the subscription edition of Heinlein's The Door Into Summer had arrived today, as I needed something to read. Now, this book is one of my favorites and a fast read, so I'm already well into it. And I reached the point where Dan -- in the far-flung year 2000 -- had to take a trip downtown to find a 24-hour branch of his bank so he could get some money.
Of course, in the real far-flung year 2000, he would have gone to an ATM. Could Heinlein have predicted that in 1956? Maybe. He certainly predicted many other things, including AutoCAD, although he called it Drafting Dan.
But he missed totally on the idea of having cash available on nearly every street corner if you had your card with you.
So -- not just Heinlein! -- what are the everyday things that we take for granted that our science-fiction writers of the mid-20th century never would have imagined?
Now, the thing about food poisoning is that it gives you the remarkable opportunity to spend a lot of time on the toilet. For me, this means a chance to catch up on my reading. Thus, in the past few days I've read all of the current comics that had piled up to be read and have annihilated the back issue stack, reading through everything I had of Beyond, The Maze Agency, 1602: New World, Kurt Busiek's Conan, and so on.
It was with some pleasure then that I found that the subscription edition of Heinlein's The Door Into Summer had arrived today, as I needed something to read. Now, this book is one of my favorites and a fast read, so I'm already well into it. And I reached the point where Dan -- in the far-flung year 2000 -- had to take a trip downtown to find a 24-hour branch of his bank so he could get some money.
Of course, in the real far-flung year 2000, he would have gone to an ATM. Could Heinlein have predicted that in 1956? Maybe. He certainly predicted many other things, including AutoCAD, although he called it Drafting Dan.
But he missed totally on the idea of having cash available on nearly every street corner if you had your card with you.
So -- not just Heinlein! -- what are the everyday things that we take for granted that our science-fiction writers of the mid-20th century never would have imagined?
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 06:59 am (UTC)Moore's Law, and the even faster growth curve of rotating magnetic memory, have lead to things that really were unimaginable in 1956. You can now go to Fry's and buy more compute power and storage than existed in the entire world of 1956. I don't know the exact numbers; it would probably fit in your pocket now.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 03:18 pm (UTC)On the other hand
Date: 2006-12-20 08:03 am (UTC)Computer voice recognition is pretty much where he expected it to be.
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Date: 2006-12-20 10:47 am (UTC)What's involved with that?
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Date: 2006-12-20 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 02:14 pm (UTC)I really wonder how many gigabytes we can store in one of those data crystals as seen on Babylon 5.
The future isn't what it used to be. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 03:28 pm (UTC)Oh, and we take for granted that there's no moonbase yet...
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Date: 2006-12-20 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-21 08:13 am (UTC)iPods (which were NOT predicted by STNG as claimed by SciFi Channel's amusing How William Shatner Changed the Future by the way - THAT system was the ship's full computer system, NOT a portable!)
RFID chips. The classic SF writers didn't get those and even Gibson didn't really get those. He had an interface more than anything else. Don't think they're common? Look at your next prescription bottle or UPS package.
Flying Cars - I'M STILL WAITING, GUYS!!!
Laser surgery.
Corneal implants for cataract patients.
The cure for myasthena gravis (we've pretty much got that bad boy beaten according to Dr. Bob), even though it gave us the Waldo...
Online banking.
ATM's.
Self testing units for diabetes and home dialysis units.
LCDs - some of the BEST flashlights now use these little doovers...
That's just a few on a tired, late night after a gig...
Lee