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"People ask me how I do research for my science fiction. The answer is, I never do any research. I just enjoy reading the stuff, and some of it sticks in my mind and fits into the stories."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Cybercab | ||
| An autonomous taxi. |
As far as I know, this is the first (and perhaps only) use of this word in science fiction.
| They turned their backs on the black water, and trudged upslope. A cybercab dogged their heels, hoping for a fare, but they ignored it, and it sped off. |
| Technovelgy from Vacuum Flowers,
by Michael Swanwick. Published by Asimov's Science Fiction in 1987 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the driverless taxi from The Living Machine (1935) by Dr. David H. Keller, arguably the first mention of this idea.
The robotic or automated taxi is a frequently explored theme in sf; see Tin Cabby from Cities in Flight [1957], the autocab from Between Planets [1951] and the autonomic cab from The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch [1964].
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Vacuum Flowers
More Ideas
and Technology by Michael Swanwick
Tech news articles related to Vacuum Flowers
Tech news articles related to works by Michael Swanwick
Cybercab-related
news articles:
- CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
| SpaceX Rocket Shuttle Point-To-Point On Earth |
| CORLEO Robotic Horse Concept Looks Ready To Ride |
| Futuristic Transit Elevated Bus Never Really Worked |
| Japan Automated Cargo Transport |
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'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
