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"It was [H.G. Wells'] adolescent fiction, his imaginative stories, that live forever - and yet are not acknowledged in literature classes as being great literature. So to hell with the academics!"
- Greg Bear
 |
| Novel-Writing Machines | ||
| A device that automatically produces fiction. |
| Julia was twenty-six years old... and she worked, as he had guessed, on the novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department. She enjoyed her work, which consisted chiefly in running and servicing a powerful but tricky electric motor... She could describe the whole process of composing a novel, from the general directive issued by the Planning Committee down to the final touching-up by the Rewrite Squad. But she was not interested in the final product. She "didn't much care for reading," she said. Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces. |
| From 1984,
by George Orwell. Published by Unknown in 1948 Additional resources -
|
Probably the earliest example of this idea is the knowledge engine from Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels.
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- What-If Machine Concocts Creative Premises
- SciFiQ Science Fiction Writing Aid
| Satoshi Tomizu Creates Pocket Universes And Worldcraft Bubbles In Glass |
| Personalized Masks Appear |
| Science Fiction Helps Young Readers Build Resiliency |
| Unwanted Cruise Ships Huddle Together Out At Sea |
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'Its motion was so swift, complex, and perfect that at first I did not see it as a machine, in spite of its metallic glitter.'
Propulsion-assisted orbital decay, brought to you by SpaceX.
'He applied the tip of the instrument to the interior of the wound...'
'...what's to keep me from showing face, Man?'
'The Worldcraft bubble glittered, catching the light...'
'This is Elmer Schmitz, presenting to you the finalists in our Aviation Quiz Program...'
'Immediately an enormous apparatus fell on to her out of the ceiling...'
Maybe not, but we're seeing definite progress.
'These people are pieces of software called avatars.'
