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"[Science fiction is] nightmares and visions, always outlined by the barely possible."
- Gregory Benford
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| Guide-Beam | ||
| A wireless means of controlling and directing the movement of a passenger vehicle. |
| He spun off down the road, allowing the car to operate on the New York guide-beam. It was safer that wy. And a lot quickr. He didn't mind having his car operated from a hundred miles off. All the other cars racing along the eight-lane highway were guide operated. Made accidents almost impossible, and meant he could enjoy the countryside...
Something picked up the car and hurled it from the road. The guide had failed. Interference. That was his last thought. |
| Technovelgy from Time Pawn,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1954 Additional resources -
|
This is how it appeared in Dr. Futurity six years later:
Compare with the Camden speedster from Robert Heinlein's 1941 story Methuselah's Children. Charles Stross came up with a very interesting variation on this idea in his 2007 novel Halting State; see driverless drones.
He spun off down the road, allowing the car to operate on the San Francisco guide-beam north. It was safer that way, especially on U.S. 101. And a lot quicker. He didn't mind having his car operated from a hundred miles off. All the other cars racing along the sixteen lane highway were guide-operated, too, those going his way and those heading in the opposite direction, on the analog south highway to Los Angeles. It made accidents almost impossible, and meant he could enjoy the educational notices which various universities traditionally posted along the route. And, behind the notices, the countryside.
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Science Fiction
Timeline
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'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
'We had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect.'
'Detailed plans for the construction of the Gundstetter-Halone warp drive were flowing.'
'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
