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"Cyberspace is a metaphor that allows us to grasp this place where since about the time of the second world war we've increasingly done so many of the things that we think of as civilization."
- William Gibson
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| Suspensor Chair | ||
| A chair that suspends itself above the floor. |
In Dune, the suspensor technology contrasted oddly with the feudal politics and mentality of the people. The science of suspensors is not explained, but that is typical of the novel, and was typical of the mentality of the characters. They distrusted science.
| An ellipsoid desk with a top of jade-pink petrified elacca wood stood at the center of the room. Veriform suspensor chairs ringed it, two of them occupied. |
| Technovelgy from Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1965 Additional resources -
|
This scene takes place in Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's meeting room, or apartment area. The Baron owned entire planets. The luxury was in the materials and veneers, not the technology; suspensor technology was widely used.
This sort of invention seems impossible; how can it be possible to generate a field that nullifies (or opposes) gravity? And how big would the generator have to be?
However, there are different approaches to problems; see the entry for gravity web also by Frank Herbert, for a slightly different approach than a generator.
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'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
