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"Science fiction represents the modern heresy and the cutting edge of speculative imagination as it grapples with Mysterious Time---linear or non-linear time."
- Frank Herbert
 |
| Suction Mail Tube | ||
| An evacuated tube system carrying mail to residences. |
| She had opened the suction mail tube and there was the metal foil advertisement: ROME AND THE BORGIAS! THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AT KITTY HAWK! Travel in Time, Inc., can costume you, put you in a crowd during the assassination of Lincoln or Caesar! We guarantee to teach you any language you need to move freely in any civilization, in any year, without friction. Latin, Greek, ancient American colloquial. Take your vacation in Time as well as Place! |
| Technovelgy from The Illustrated Man,
by Ray Bradbury. Published by Doubleday in 1951 Additional resources -
|
The original pneumatic capsules were created in the 1830's and used primarily for quickly sending telegrams from telegraph offices to nearby business buildings.
However, Bradbury is proposing (apparently) to have similar networks connecting all of our houses, which would be a fun idea. However, given my experience with tube networks in hospitals (where they are used to transport small specimens and paperwork), they need constant fiddling and repair work, and an entire city full of tube networks might be more of a hassle than a benefit.
Compare to the vacutubes and the bounce tubes from Robert Heinlein's Double Star (1956); Heinlein was another fan of the pneumatic tube system idea.
This comes from his short story The Fox and the Forest, which is a part of The Illustrated Man story collection.
Thanks to Connor Lawrence for submitting this item.
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'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
