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"...science fiction is sort of like a sociological genome. It's a huge range of possible futures, most of them useless; some vital. You never really know in advance."
- Peter Watts
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| Telephot | ||
| A device that combined the functions of telephone and television; a phone with a screen. |
This is a very early reference to this idea.
| His physical superiority, however, was as nothing compared to his gigantic mind. He was Ralph 124C 41+, one of the greatest living scientists and one of ten men on the whole planet earth permitted to use the Plus sign after his name. Stepping to the Telephot on the side of the wall, he pressed a group of buttons and in a few minutes the faceplate of the Telephot became luminous, revealing the face of a clean-shaven man about thirty, a pleasant but serious face.
As soon as he recognized the face of Ralph in his own Telephot, he smiled and said, "Hello, Ralph." "Hello, Edward. I wanted to ask you if you could come over to the laboratory tomorrow morning. I have something unusually interesting to show you. Look!" He stepped to one side of his instrument so that his friend could see the apparatus on the table about ten feet from the Telephot faceplate. Edward came closer to his own faceplate, in order that he might see further into the laboratory. |
| From Ralph 124c 41 +,
by Hugo Gernsback. Published by Modern Electrics in 1911 Additional resources -
|
This technovelgy item has been accomplished many times over the years; today's version of teleconferencing over the Internet via webcams is just the latest version. Curiously, it has never really caught on with the public; I wonder if people really want to be seen.
Take a look at this representation of the Telephot on an early cover for the novel.
Constantin Perskyi had coined the word "television" in a paper read to the International Electricity Congress at the International World Fair in Paris on 24 August 1900.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Ralph 124c 41 +
More Ideas
and Technology by Hugo Gernsback
Tech news articles related to Ralph 124c 41 +
Tech news articles related to works by Hugo Gernsback
Telephot-related
news articles:
- Android Glass Desk Phone
| 'Courier Commons' By Tomorrow Lab, From Karl Schroeder (and Bruce Sterling?) |
| Mouth Haptics Invented By Frederik Pohl In 1965, CMU Now Has Prototype |
| True Crime Live Podcasting In Fiction |
| Zoom Adds Real-Time, Live Translation |
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'The pokkecon rang again. *The coffee’s for him?* Tsuyoshi said.'
The Jetsons imagined so much future.
'Rod placed the brain inside the panel... the horse raised its head, wiggled its ears, blinked twice, gave a tentative whinny.'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
