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"The answer to the problem of information overload on the Net is reputations… engineer a system called a reputation server."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Auto-Car | ||
| A personal vehicle for indoor and outdoor use. |
In the world of this story, most human beings had given up walking.
| ... the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia was filled with the usual throng of pleasure seekers, each in his own auto-car.
 (The Autocar from The Revolt of the Pedestrians) Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed down the long aisles, pausing now and then before this exhibit or that which attracted their individual attention... Finally, a boy stopped his auto-car in front of a glass case. "What is that, Father? They look as we do, only what peculiar shapes." "That, my son, is a family of pedestrians... This family was shot in the Ozark mountains. It is believed they were the last in the world..." |
| Technovelgy from The Revolt of the Pedestrians,
by David H. Keller. Published by Amazing Stories in 1928 Additional resources -
|
Here are more details:
I think that this is a spot-on prediction of the increasing use of "scooters" by people who should be healthy but have given up walking for reasons of obesity or laziness.
In the 2008 movie Wall-e, the entire population has given up walking:
The automobile had developed as legs had atrophied. No longer content to use it constantly outdoors, the Successors of Ford had perfected the smaller individual machine for use indoors, all steps being replaced by curving ascending passages. Men thus came to live within metal bodies, which they left only for sleep. Gradually, partly through necessity and partly through inclination, the automobile was used in sport as well as in play. Special types were developed for golf ; children seated in autocars rolled hoops through shady parks ; lazily, prostrate on one, a maiden drifted through the tropical waters of a Florida resort. Mankind had ceased to use their lower limbs.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Revolt of the Pedestrians
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and Technology by David H. Keller
Tech news articles related to The Revolt of the Pedestrians
Tech news articles related to works by David H. Keller
Auto-Car-related
news articles:
- Segway S-Pod Fulfills Dire 1928 SciFi Prophecy
- Mobility Scooters Go Offroad
- Autonomous Wheelchairs Improve Airport Mobility
- Adorable One-Seater Electric Car From Wuxi Sinotech
- The Electric Balance Bicycle And The Decline Of Western Civilization
- Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
| CORLEO Robotic Horse Concept Looks Ready To Ride |
| Futuristic Transit Elevated Bus Never Really Worked |
| Japan Automated Cargo Transport |
| Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany |
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'...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...'
'We had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect.'
'Detailed plans for the construction of the Gundstetter-Halone warp drive were flowing.'
'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
