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"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Maas-Neotek Biochip | ||
| An integrated circuit chip (or equivalent) that provides hardware and firmware for creating a virtual entity. |
The idea that Gibson is trying to get across is the idea of a piece of special hardware/firmware that is designed for a specific purpose; creating a virtual person (in appearance as well as actions).
| The ghost woke to Komiko's touch as they began their descent into Heathrow. The 51st generation of Mass-Neotek biochips conjured up an indistinct figure on the seat beside her, a boy out of some faded hunting print, legs crossed casually in tan breeches and riding boots. "Hullo," the ghost said. Komiko blinked, opened her hand. The boy flickered and was gone. She looked down at the smooth little unit in her palm and slowly closed her fingers... |
| Technovelgy from Mona Lisa Overdrive,
by William Gibson. Published by Bantam in 1988 Additional resources -
|
Today, the word "biochip" is used specifically to denote a testing apparatus, a collection of very small test sites arranged on a solid substrate. A modern biochip's surface area is about one square centimeter. A biochip can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds.
The word "biochip" is also in common usage meaning a chip that is implanted in living flesh; a typical science fiction example is the implanted credit card, from The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.
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I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
'...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...'
