Ten... fantasy gadgets you wish you owned
Tomorrow is always round the corner in the world of tech, and gadgets that started life in the imaginations of mad folk are starting to become a possibility. Tools that give us superpowers may seem impossible, but ultramobile computing is a reality these days, with commonplace kit that seems more capable than devices Gene …
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Nope
The 3DS image is still on a flat screen. It just uses optics to send different bits of the screen to each eye. The image is not projected above the screen, even if it looks it. You certainly can't walk around it or share the image without being quite intimate with others, personal-space-wise.
When 'real' 3D comes out, one wonders what it will be marketed as, since they are fast wearing out the term on what could far more accurately be described as 'stereoscopic'.
holograms
dosent that 3ds nds wotsit do exactly what is being described?
Awesome
Just found a load of Tomorrow People episodes on You Tube, not quite as awesome as when I was 10, but yehaa!
Beam me up Scotty
As a phrase has never appeared in Star Trek. the closest that has been said on screen in "Scotty, beam me up." :D
missing something
To be pedantic, you are missing the Jimmy Edwards icon.
Jaunting?
The belt was purely a guidance mechanism like a rudder, the ability and power to jaunt came from the mind of the jaunter
My copy is called Tiger! Tiger!
And to mention 'jaunte' (correct spelling) without mentioning Bester's novel which coined the term is to deprive the unedified of the chance of reading a classic that has stood the test of time.
Tomorrow's People rocked in the 70s.
Jaunting
Yep, I recall, also, that the "Jaunting" belt was an aid to controlling the innate ability of the wearer. It didn't actually confer the power. Without the belt you were likely to end up in hyperspace...
The series was great initially, but it got really silly towards the end and greatly outstayed its welcome.
Anyone remember the episode where they were chased by enormous pink bubbles? Augh..
Bona Teleportation
Sandy to Julian "Beam me up!"
""Homo superior"? They just don't come like that anymore. Ooh er." Classic!!!!
Come on people, how young are you?
Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Bowie - '71
Superior homo what?
"You gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Bowie - '71"
Written allegedly after a chance meeting between Bowie and the creator of the Tomorrow People while he was pitching the show to Thames TV.
I won't say that Bowie must have been into the Tomorrow People... because that joke is just too cheap.
Re: Come on people, how young are you?
Not old enough to have been aware of Bowie in '71, but old enough to remember Homosapien. by Pete Shelley in '81. Banned by the beeb for the Homo Superior line therein.
Entry #2 Holodeck
If you're going to write about Star Trek then at least have your writes check what they type.
#2 HOLODECK refers to the SECURITY protocols.
Its SAFETY PROTOCOLS.
telephathy
" women would be reminded every seven seconds what us men are really thinking about, so security measures would need to be taken."
and the other 6 seconds in every 7 will be filled with: football, where did I leave my glasses? is it mealtime yet, I need to scratch myself......
You end up needing
to host a Disaster Area concert, just for some peace-and-quiet!
Pedant alert...
...OK, sombody else mentioned Babel Fish, so I'm not the only pedant here!!
The scientist in Barbarella (played by the great Milo O'Shea) was, of course, Duran Duran (not Durand) - sounds like a great name for a band if you ask me.
ITYF...
His name is indeed Durand Durand - see IMDB or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(film)#Cast
Interestingly, this also points out that the Orgasmatron is technically the "Excessive Machine".
Sorry but...
a cloaking device to make my parked car invisible? Not the best idea I ever heard.
Exactly
I was thinking that, too - you may avoid vandals, but that other guy in the Hummer who thinks he's just spotted a free parking space might cause just a little bit of damage.
SEP field
I still believe that Douglas Adams' "Somebody Else's Problem" field as a cheaper alternative to the cloaking device is pure genius.
I want one for my car.
SEP field
Douglas Adams was writing about existing tech there.
Fall over in the street - somebody else's problem.
etc. etc.
Ditto
The SEP field is still Douglas's best idea (on a LONG list of brilliant ideas), one which I still refer to regularly :-)
Beer, to the memory of Mr. Adams.
I'll join you in that...
But I'll drink, by preference, to the infinite improbabilty field, since it will obviously work if we can figure out how to make it.
What is this stuff? Watney's Red Barrel? Haven't we got any real beer?
Kiln People
The temporary cloning of yourself onto a humanoid "blank" in David Brin's "Kiln People" would be pretty useful.
Lensman
Hopefully over-egged posturing in silver-painted Nazi riding pants and silver muscle suits won't catch on either...
And what is that he's holding in his left hand???
Kim Kinnison is not happy ...
His hat. (It's grey with a reddish lining)
And the uniform is grey/gray not silver.
what is that he's holding in his left hand???
Probably a remote for his plane as it looks like it has wings?
( Sorry )
X-Ray specs
Can't believe these weren't on the list.. Why are they taking so long?
Paris of course
Great googly moogly!
You want a Bill n Ted timebooth over a TARDIS!!!
Priorites gentlefolk, PLEASE!
I could go for a Lucy Liu 'bot, as show on Futurama.
And a Rat Thing would make an excellent home security system. Which reminds me there are a few uses I could think of for Reason too...
If you're going for stuff from Snowcrash
then I'd go for smart-wheels on my car to deal with all the speed bumps.
(This assumes I can't just have a flying car)
The 5th Element
How about the gun that Zorg offers to his contract killers, which has the repeat button and will always the hit the same location as the initial shot, no matter where you aim it?
HG for blowing things up...
Cool gun but...
It was certainly a feature packed weapon but I never did understand the point of the replay button.
What are you going to shoot which doesn't get stopped by the first bullet but does get hit by the second bullet?
I suppose if it was really accurate you could keep dinging the same piece of body armour until it finally gives way.
and ...
"I suppose if it was really accurate you could keep dinging the same piece of body armour until it finally gives way."
AND ... you can fire all but the initial shot from behind full cover - you only need to pop out to hit the target with the 'tag' (like the Bullseye rifle in Resistance).
...will always the hit the same location as the initial shot...
That's going to look pretty stupid if you missed.
"time travel defies the laws of physics"
Wrong.
Time travel to a point in time before the time machine is invented seems pretty unlikely mind you... otherwise we'd presumably be seeing the time travellers already. Time travel in general though: no laws against that.
cogito ergo sum
It might be debatable whether time travel breaches the laws of physics - I think that would take us into areas of debate about what the laws of physics are.
However, it should be apparent that time travel breaches the rules of common sense. It's for this reason that the only good modern time-travel stories are satires. Silverberg's "Up the Line" is recommended reading for an enumeration of the paradoxes.
Time travel is inconceivable, because positing its existence implies paradoxes - situations where something is both true and false at the same time.
As to whether "inconceivable" implies "impossible" - Rene Descartes thought so, but you are free to differ.
Peril Glasses
LCD 3D glasses hacked and hooked up to Stress sensor (heart rate, sweat, Adrenalin)?
One of the most feasible things on the list, about 100%. Not 10%
Some of the 80% + items listed are not likely more than 1% likely.
Point of view gun
Point it at someone who does not see your point of view and hey presto, they see your point of view.
H2G2
couple of problems
Both the Lens and the jaunting belt were only amplifiers/controllers, you had to have the basic ability for them to work.
I personally would like to see a Tom Baker scarf; one that automatically grows shorter or longer, depending on the terrain (short for tangled vegetation - longer for snag-free corridors)
(Typed wearing my Joe 90 specs)
Not bad list but.....
... where is the hover board from Back To The Future?
Re: GSV
We decided against this as none of us has a flat big enough to keep one in.
You'd have to be _very_ persuasive
Somehow I can't see a GSV agreeing to be owned, but I suppose it might go along with it briefly for a laugh.
Wot no Talkie Toaster on the list?
P.S. Would anyone like any toast?
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