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"[Science fiction is ] That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Wrist Command | ||
| A wearable communications device; the logical endpoint of mobile computing. |
The wrist seems like a very traditional place to have a device used for entering commands; watch computers have been around since the early 1970's. However, it is a very functional place for people (or beings) with two appendages. For one thing, you can actually see it. If, as is the case with the Star Trek Generations emblems (on the upper chest) you can't get any visual feedback from them.
| Lieutenant Cermo was waiting for him at the amidships gridpoint. The way Cermo's mouth turned down in utter dismayed surprise brought forth a thin smile from Killeen. But by that time Cermo had hurriedly turned away and tapped a quick signal into his wrist command, and so missed his Cap'n's amusement entirely. |
| From Tides of Light,
by Gregory Benford. Published by Bantam in 1989 Additional resources -
|
Today, it is possible to see a variety of wrist-mounted networked mobile computers in use in industrial or service businesses. Although a calculator is only one of the functions that a Wrist Command device might have, it is one of the first non-time related functions first put in a watch. See The Pulsar Watch Calculator, the first such watch. I actually owned one of these; alas, it was stolen many years ago - it was a beauty! The stainless steel version cost $625 in 1976.
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