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"We [science fiction writers] always wanted to believe in "private sector" space -- hucksters make better characters than a government does."
- Larry Niven
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| Auto-Navigation | ||
| Automatic car navigation, provided on a video console in the dashboard. |
This is a very early instance of the idea of having a navigation screen in the middle of your dashboard that shows your current location, and which allows you to enter the coordinates of your desired destination.
| …he lighted his destination screen and turned the knob that shifted the broadcast map. Left to right, top to bottom, section to section he shifted it, until he located the portion of Carnegi Avenue he desired. He punched out its coordinates and lowered the wheel. |
| Technovelgy from The Dream Master (He Who Shapes),
by Roger Zelazny. Published by Ace Books in 1966 Additional resources -
|
Compare this idea with the Camden Speedster from Methuselah's Children, a 1941 novel by Robert Heinlein. The Speedster can drive itself, but you can't actually set a destination.
Here's a picture of my very own auto-navigation system, on my Toyota Camry hybrid:
Now, if somebody would just come out with a system that lets the car drive itself to the destination, that would be great.
Hey, what do you know, there's the Google's autonomous self-driving car.
Compare to the locatimeter from The Iron World by Otis Adelbert Kline.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Dream Master (He Who Shapes)
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Tech news articles related to The Dream Master (He Who Shapes)
Tech news articles related to works by Roger Zelazny
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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.'
