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"To get anywhere, or even live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right, over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Talking Head | ||
| A mechanical head (with an analog voice) used as the output terminal for a computer. |
One of the elements I most admire in Gibson's work is the use of archaic devices to provide a background for the high technology elements. A favorite is this talking head, which spurns inexpensive digital voice reproduction in favor of an elaborate mechanism which creates a woodwind-like sound.
| …a head, an intricately worked bust, cloisonné over platinum, studded with seed pearls and lapis. ..The thing was a computer terminal…it could talk. And not in a synth-voice, but with a beautiful arrangement of gears and miniature organ pipes. It was a baroque thing for anyone to have constructed, a perverse thing, because synth-voice chips cost next to nothing…Smith jacked the head into his computer and listened as the melodious, inhuman voice piped the figures of last year's tax return. |
| From Neuromancer,
by William Gibson. Published by Phantasia Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
There are lots of other examples; I particularly liked his description of the living quarters of the owner of an entire orbital village, which contained "old" pieces of technology that are current in the 1980's, when the novel was written.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Neuromancer
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and Technology by William Gibson
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Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
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- Vocaloid Voice - Soul Singing Synthesis
- WT-6 Waseda Talking Robot Head From Neuromancer
- WAHHA GO GO Laughing Head
| Muscle-Controlled Interface Is Hands-Free |
| Online Banking Malware Rewrites Your Statements |
| Courier Tablet Computer Video Reveals Features |
| 'Mechanical Tumor' Meatspace Expression Of Computer Stress |
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Gerry was dubious. She had seen abortive attempts at paralysis rays before.
Let your fingers - uh - your robot do the walking. And hopping.
