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"[Science fiction] has become big business, where books are merchandised and promoted and distributed and placed on sale like slabs of bacon or cans of soup."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Talking Speedometer | ||
| A gauge that tells you its value verbally |
This is an early use of the idea of a gauge that does not need you to look at it to get a "reading."
| He pressed the accelerator under his finger, and as he passed the 150-k.p.h. mark the speedometer's mechanical whisper cut in- "One sixty- One sixty-eight- One eighty-" |
| Technovelgy from Biddiver,
by Theodore Sturgeon. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1941 Additional resources -
|
Sturgeon couldn't resist adding another example:
"Four hundred twelve k.p.h.-"
"Altitude twenty-three thousand fifty-"
He went quite peacefully to sleep then, ignoring the new whispering voice that joined that of the speedometer:
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More Ideas
and Technology from Biddiver
More Ideas
and Technology by Theodore Sturgeon
Tech news articles related to Biddiver
Tech news articles related to works by Theodore Sturgeon
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| Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It |
| Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Good For 100 Years |
| The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space |
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Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
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1940's 1950's
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2000's 2010's
'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 ...'
