Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"My father was a master mechanic; I grew up with a screwdriver in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other."
|
There is an exchange that runs over several pages in the novel, giving an interesting glimpse of what this technology holds in store for the rest of us in years to come. Interestingly, Herbert uses a machine to cause his character to introspect.
Personally, I'm not sure that I want to have a day planner built into my house - especially if I have to argue with it!
The device did more than just play back appointments:
As though it knew his thoughts, the DS said:
"I'm still a machine. You are inefficient, but as you have correctly stated you have ways at arriving at accuracy which machines do not understand. We can only... guess, and we are not really programmed to guess unless specifically ordered to do so on a given occasion. Trust yourself."
"But you'd rather I were not killed?"
"That is my program."
"Do you have any more helpful suggestions?"
"You would be advised to waste as little time as possible here. There was a tone of urgency in BIldoon's voice."
McKie stared at the nearest voder...
"Are you sure he sounded urgent?"
"He spoke rapidly and with obvious tensions."
"Truthful?"
"The tone-spikes lead to that conclusion."
Its voder is described as "fluting" its responses; it is interesting to compare this kind of voice (like a woodwind instrument, as opposed to a digital reproduction) to a similar device in Neuromancer (see the Talking Head), by William Gibson. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Daily Schedule (DS)-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
|
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
||