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"We were essentially being shell-shocked by rapid change. That was one of the things you needed science-fiction writers for back in the Sixties, because we could cope with the future."
- Peter Watts
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| Telechronometer | ||
| A watch that synchronizes itself to a remote source. |
The task of setting a chronometer has always been as much of a problem as making one run properly. Heinlein happened on a very modern solution to this task in 1940.
| Harrington glanced at his wrist watch - a bulky affair - and whistled. "Good heavens," he exclaimed, "I forgot the time!" "We are in zone plus-seven; this shows zone plus-five - it's radio-synchronized with the master clock at Washington..." "I call it a telechronometer; it's the only one of its sort to date." |
| Technovelgy from Blowups Happen,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Street and Smith Publications in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Today, of course, you can actually purchase a watch like this:
Introducing the worlds first dual time zone, analog/digital atomic watch by Atomix. Both analog and digital time displays are automatically synchronized with the US atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado. The Atomix watch updates both analog and digital time ...
Want to know the right time? Visit the NIST radio station WWVB, broadcasting the correct time within about 1800 miles of colorado.
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- Seiko Astron Always Knows Your Time Zone
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| Tortoise Mobile Smart Stores |
| Sony Pocket Air Conditioner Is Phil Dick's Idea! |
| ROAM Robotics Skiing Exoskeleton |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
