Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Computer Built Into Desk Concept
It's more visually appealing than a desk built into a computer described in text, but other than that, I think I like John Brunner's version better.
(XYZ computer in a desk concept)
XYZ describes their computer in a desk concept thusly:
We enjoy the design of the Apple computer range, though on a functional level, PC is preferred. So we designed a desk/computer as beautiful as a Mac but easily upgradeable like a PC. All computer components and cable management is contained within the thickness of the desk, and when upgrading is required, the desk lid simply flips open. CDRW/DVD, USB and Hot Keys are located on the side of the desk.
But that's just hardware; in his 1963 novel The Long Result. Brunner describes how your computer built into a desk can help you - it could be a desk secretary:
I opened the door of my office. On the door, neat Anglic script said:
Roald Vincent
Assistant
OUTThat last word modified itself to read IN as the secretary built into my desk recognized me. I sat down and asked what I had on hand from yesterday. My own voice came back to me from the tapes...
Readers might also remember the desk from Tron, the 1982 film featuring a great mock-up of this concept.
From XYZ computer desk via Born Rich.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/25/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Work ")
Swedes Get 'Chipped' With Vaccine Passports
'Employees above a certain level were implanted with advanced microprocessors...' - William Gibson, 1984.
Meetings To Be Recorded And Scored For Body Language
'Jedrik was reworking the simulation model of Broey which she carried in her head.'
Would You Get 'Chipped'? Michigan May Ban Employers
'Employees above a certain level were implanted with advanced microprocessors...' - William Gibson, 1984.
Workplace Monitoring Hell, I Mean, Tool For Safe Distancing
'And here is the weirdest part -- I never see another employee the entire day.' - Marshall Brain, 2002.
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
Why Not Move A Warehouse District?
'Did you never see a moving house before?'
Will An AI Found A New Religion?
'You must decide how you will worship Me.'
Terraformer Industries Make Methane
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
I Need An Outdoor Spherical Display
'Usually a spherical display hovered in the centre...'
Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
It's a computer, but just barely.
'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
'There were perhaps a dozen bladder-like objects in the tunnel...'
Ridiculous 'Ghost Murmur' Tech Still Science Fiction
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
Outdoor Video Screens Can Be Arbitrarily Large
The Shape of Things To Come
Infrared Contact Lenses To See In The Dark
'I can see in the dark, Case.'
What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
Sunbird Pulsar Fusion Like Leinster's Space Tug
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
RentAHuman App Lets AI Agents Hire Humans
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen.'
