Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"[Science fiction is] anything that turns you and your social context, the social you, inside out."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Automatic Air Mail Plane | ||
| A pilotless airplane for delivery of cargo. |
The same device that was used in automatic automobiles was placed in airplanes. However, the evil machinations of rival companies caused these new devices to go crazy.
| Then the automatic airmail planes changed from peaceful carrier pigeons to predatory hawks. They chased other planes, deliberately colliding with them. They plunged to distraction against mountainsides and skyscrapers. |
| From The Living Machine,
by David H. Keller. Published by Wonder Stories in 1935 Additional resources -
|
I can't find an earlier reference to the idea of an autonomous airplane (note that this is different from the idea of an automatic pilot).
As one of the characters remarks "It was a dangerous thing to do. A machine is alright and a brain is alright, but God never intended the two to be hitched together."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Living Machine
More Ideas
and Technology by David H. Keller
Tech news articles related to The Living Machine
Tech news articles related to works by David H. Keller
| Calling Google's RoboTaxi |
| Hyperloop Transport Proposed By Tesla's Elon Musk |
| Evacuated Tube Transport Idea Is 200 Years Old This Year! |
| myTaxi iPhone App May Transform Taxi Business |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'... as though a child should build from nursery blocks a fantastic shape which abruptly is filled with throbbing life.'
'... the immense, three-dimensional, minutely cubed model...'
'I donned it and drew its hood, and threw on its current.'
'Microscopic machinery, smaller than ants, smaller than pins, working energetically...'
