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"But the problem with reincarnation is that it's hard to imagine what the storage medium for past lives would be. Not to mention the input-output device. I hesitate to rule it out completely, but I'd need pretty definite proof."
- Arthur C. Clarke
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| Automated Travel Bureau | ||
| A computer program that allows individuals to book their travel arrangements themselves, with a credit card. |
Pretty good prediction of services like Travelocity and Expedia.
| The lobby of the Hilton was pleasanty cool. Best of all, it held a fully automated travel bureau. I went in, found an empty booth, sat down in front of the terminal. |
| Technovelgy from Friday,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Holt, Rhinehart and Winston in 1982 Additional resources -
|
Friday (the novel's protagonist) then makes a number of reservations, paid with credit cards.
For those of us who remember travel booking prior to the Internet, there were these people called "travel agents." They sat in front of a screen and listened to your requests; they did the typing for you, and ran your credit cards too.
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'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
'You're a stable, rock-bottom mining robot, except that you're equipped to handle six subsidiaries in direct coordination...'
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
'It radiates outward in a cone which, by the time it has reached our section of space, is many lightyears across.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock.'
'... with a weird simulation of life, the ten forked ends of each arm commenced a rattling pressing of the buttons.'
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'
