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"Writing about the future, I have a vested interest in there being a future for me to write about."
- John Brunner
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| Telephot | ||
| A device that combined the functions of telephone and television; a phone with a screen. |
This is a very early reference to this idea.
| His physical superiority, however, was as nothing compared to his gigantic mind. He was Ralph 124C 41+, one of the greatest living scientists and one of ten men on the whole planet earth permitted to use the Plus sign after his name. Stepping to the Telephot on the side of the wall, he pressed a group of buttons and in a few minutes the faceplate of the Telephot became luminous, revealing the face of a clean-shaven man about thirty, a pleasant but serious face.
As soon as he recognized the face of Ralph in his own Telephot, he smiled and said, "Hello, Ralph." "Hello, Edward. I wanted to ask you if you could come over to the laboratory tomorrow morning. I have something unusually interesting to show you. Look!" He stepped to one side of his instrument so that his friend could see the apparatus on the table about ten feet from the Telephot faceplate. Edward came closer to his own faceplate, in order that he might see further into the laboratory. |
| From Ralph 124c 41 +,
by Hugo Gernsback. Published by Modern Electrics in 1911 Additional resources -
|
This technovelgy item has been accomplished many times over the years; today's version of teleconferencing over the Internet via webcams is just the latest version. Curiously, it has never really caught on with the public; I wonder if people really want to be seen.
Take a look at this representation of the Telephot on an early cover for the novel.
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and Technology from Ralph 124c 41 +
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and Technology by Hugo Gernsback
Tech news articles related to Ralph 124c 41 +
Tech news articles related to works by Hugo Gernsback
Telephot-related
news articles:
- Android Glass Desk Phone
| The Future Of Elon Musk's Neuralink |
| BloxVox Mutes Cellphone Convos |
| Sonitus Audio Interface Positioned Beyond The Noise |
| FlexPai Foldable Phone By Royole |
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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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'... the young men in the streets who applied polyimde OLED body film to their bared shoulders.'
'Bioengeering had put out a spec report on the long crawly things five months back.'
'The air-taxi found its way past and around other ground-cars...'
'They tried to use it today and it wouldn't work. No colors and no ceph patterns, neither one...'
'Cerebral Electromagnetic Emmission Amplification and Relay System — call it artificial telepathy, if you like.'
'[It] caused his televised image... to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully.'
'There was almost no sound, just a steady velvety whirr as the taxi sped along.'
Life imitates anime art.
