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USB Bible Tougher Than Filament OC Bible
In his epochal work Dune, Frank Herbert describes an elaborate technology that helps future Bible-toting space travelers to keep their baggage weight low - the filament paper book. Dr. Yueh gives one to the young Paul Atreides.
"Before I go, I've a gift for you, something I came across in packing." He put an object on the table between them -- black, oblong, no larger than the end of Paul's thumb...
"It's a very old Orange Catholic Bible made for space travelers. Not a filmbook, but actually printed on filament paper. It has its own magnifier and electrostatic charge system...
Never touch the actual pages with your fingers. The filament tissue is too delicate..."
(Read more about Frank Herbert's filament paper book)
It turns out that the OC Bible's precursor is now available in an even more convenient (and tougher) form. Behold the USB Bible.

(USB Digital Bible Key Chain)
A "complete and beautiful" King James translation is instantly available; the sliding switch on the back brings out the USB interface plug. According to the website, it "makes a wonderful gift."
In terms of comparison, the OC Bible still wins overall because it combines both content and viewer; users of the USB Bible must carry some sort of viewer (like a laptop or other device). On the other hand, the USB Bible offers a powerful search function. Fans of Dune may recall that tiny notches made in the cover can be used to bookmark key passages.
Find out more at the USB Bible website; saw this one in the Red Ferret Journal. Take a look at the list of science fiction inventions and ideas from Dune (39 in all - more than any other book in my index).
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/15/2005)
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