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"A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its scientific content."
- Theodore Sturgeon

Tight-Beam  
  A method of communication that uses a very narrowly-focused stream of energy.  

Very early use of this idea in science fiction.

"Pardon, your majesty—we have just received a first-degree emergency torpedo from flagship Y427W of fleet 42. In readiness."

"Put it on, here in the council chamber," a deep voice snapped.

"If he's broadcasting it, we're in for a spell of hunting," Seaton remarked. "Nope, he's putting it on a tight beam—that's fine, we can chase it up," and with a narrow detector beam he traced the invisible transmission beam into the council room.

Technovelgy from Skylark Three, by E.E. 'Doc' Smith.
Published by Amazing Stories in 1930
Additional resources -

Here’s another use of this expression in 1941, in Masquerade by Clifford Simak:

Power carried across millions of miles on Addison's tight-beam principle.

Compare to the solar energy beam from Masquerade (1941) by Clifford Simak, the ultra-communicator from Galactic Patrol (1937) by Doc Smith. needlecast in Richard Morgan's 2003 novel Altered Carbon.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Skylark Three
  More Ideas and Technology by E.E. 'Doc' Smith
  Tech news articles related to Skylark Three
  Tech news articles related to works by E.E. 'Doc' Smith

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