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"SF looks towards an imaginary future, while fantasy, by and large, looks towards an imaginary past."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Automated Travel Bureau | ||
| A computer program that allows individuals to book their travel arrangements themselves, with a credit card. |
Pretty good prediction of services like Travelocity and Expedia.
| The lobby of the Hilton was pleasanty cool. Best of all, it held a fully automated travel bureau. I went in, found an empty booth, sat down in front of the terminal. |
| Technovelgy from Friday,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Holt, Rhinehart and Winston in 1982 Additional resources -
|
Friday (the novel's protagonist) then makes a number of reservations, paid with credit cards.
For those of us who remember travel booking prior to the Internet, there were these people called "travel agents." They sat in front of a screen and listened to your requests; they did the typing for you, and ran your credit cards too.
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'There was nowhere on the planet where science and technology could not provide one with a comfortable home...'
'Most men updated their PIP on New Year's Day...'
'...a misshapen, many-tentacled thing about twice the size of a man.'
'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'
