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"One can see the free software movement as a precusor for a "free hardware" or "free wetware" movement--one that will provide free libraries of designs for biological or nanotechnological products that replicators can be programmed to churn out."
- Charles Stross
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| Maas-Neotek Biochip | ||
| An integrated circuit chip (or equivalent) that provides hardware and firmware for creating a virtual entity. |
The idea that Gibson is trying to get across is the idea of a piece of special hardware/firmware that is designed for a specific purpose; creating a virtual person (in appearance as well as actions).
| The ghost woke to Komiko's touch as they began their descent into Heathrow. The 51st generation of Mass-Neotek biochips conjured up an indistinct figure on the seat beside her, a boy out of some faded hunting print, legs crossed casually in tan breeches and riding boots. "Hullo," the ghost said. Komiko blinked, opened her hand. The boy flickered and was gone. She looked down at the smooth little unit in her palm and slowly closed her fingers... |
| Technovelgy from Mona Lisa Overdrive,
by William Gibson. Published by Bantam in 1988 Additional resources -
|
Today, the word "biochip" is used specifically to denote a testing apparatus, a collection of very small test sites arranged on a solid substrate. A modern biochip's surface area is about one square centimeter. A biochip can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds.
The word "biochip" is also in common usage meaning a chip that is implanted in living flesh; a typical science fiction example is the implanted credit card, from The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.
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'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?'
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
