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"One could imagine a very ascetic sort of life ... where the body is ignored. This is something I've played with in my books, where people hate to be reminded sometimes that they have bodies, they find it very slow and tedious."
- William Gibson
 |
| Networked Personal Device | ||
| The idea that the true power of a mobile device lies in it's backend network capabilities. |
Yet another amazing prediction chalked up for Pohl's Joymaker.
| Essentially, it is a transponder connecting you with the central computing facilities of the city in which you reside on a shared-time, self-programming basis. "Shared-time" means that many other joymakers use the same central computer - in Shoggo, something like ten million of them. |
| Technovelgy from The Age of The Pussyfoot,
by Frederik Pohl. Published by Ballantine in 1966 Additional resources -
|
This is a dramatic prediction of today's smartphone strategy. As amazing as smart phones are as standalone devices, their true potential is realized as front ends for a cloud of computer functionality. Services like Google maps, Google Goggles and Google Translate are all supplied by the backend computer networks.
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