Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Hotdesk | ||
| A desk space that was itself ready for input. |
Just a term, really; not a lot of explanation. The concept, it seems to me, is that of a desk that has all of the functions of a modern cubicle built-in: phone, computer, network access, and so forth.
| She propped her feet on the ledge of a hotdesk. She wore meticulous little reproductions of lineman's boots, buckled across the instep and stoutly laced to the ankle. |
| Technovelgy from Idoru,
by William Gibson. Published by Putnam in 1996 Additional resources -
|
As a person who has spent a considerable part of his life in cubicles, I'm trying to imagine one that would be higher tech and more interesting. So, rather than thinking of a computer as something you add to a cubicle, imagine sitting in the computer or being surrounded by it. The calendar on your wall? A flat panel display with a touch screen. The phone? Can't even see it; you come in and the cube tells you what you missed, including emails. Sit at the desk anywhere, and a keyboard is projected from little ports onto the desk surface; your finger motions tell what needs to be typed in (or dialed, in the case of a phone number).
When will Steelcase get together with Gateway and produce the hotcube? Only time will tell.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Idoru
More Ideas
and Technology by William Gibson
Tech news articles related to Idoru
Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
| Swedes Get 'Chipped' With Vaccine Passports |
| Meetings To Be Recorded And Scored For Body Language |
| Would You Get 'Chipped'? Michigan May Ban Employers |
| Workplace Monitoring Hell, I Mean, Tool For Safe Distancing |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
