I will relate to my observation in Harry Potter books. Harry Potter universe has time machine which we know scientifically are impossible while in the same HP universe, Hermoine has to physically go to the forbidden library to read books. JK Rowling couldn't think of wikipedia or internet which both exist in real world but not time travel.
Asking the wrong questions
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Re: Asking the wrong questions
#12I will relate to my observation in Harry Potter books. Harry Potter universe has time machine which we know scientifically are impossible while in the same HP universe, Hermoine has to physically go to the forbidden library to read books. JK Rowling couldn't think of wikipedia or internet which both exist in real world but not time travel.
Okay, please look up and tell us the second sentence of page 37 of "Typolemik" by Willberg. You've got Wikipedia, after all!
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#13I will relate to my observation in Harry Potter books. Harry Potter universe has time machine which we know scientifically are impossible while in the same HP universe, Hermoine has to physically go to the forbidden library to read books. JK Rowling couldn't think of wikipedia or internet which both exist in real world but not time travel.
I think, to expand on your point there, you can make the general observation that there is no 'WizardNet' or usage of the internet by any wizard (as far as we know). Further still°, there is a complete lack of computer technology from any of the Wizarding World™. Was this done intentionally? Were they supposed to be shunning it? Did they need it? Were they secretly Amish?
That said, I think it would've been dramatically less pleasing for Harry to whip out his Nokia for the camera flashlight, instead of simply uttering 'lumos'.
° Please correct me if I am wrong for my HP knowledge is rather rusty indeed.
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#14I will relate to my observation in Harry Potter books. Harry Potter universe has time machine which we know scientifically are impossible while in the same HP universe, Hermoine has to physically go to the forbidden library to read books. JK Rowling couldn't think of wikipedia or internet which both exist in real world but not time travel.
I think, to expand on your point there, you can make the general observation that there is no 'WizardNet' or usage of the internet by any wizard (as far as we know). Further still°, there is a complete lack of computer technology from any of the Wizarding World™. Was this done intentionally? Were they supposed to be shunning it? Did they need it? Were they secretly Amish? That said, I think it would've been dramatica…
I think the in-universe explanation is that magic messes up electric devices, and they are thus not usable in areas with a lot of magical presence. It's not really answered if that could be fixed or not, generally wizards just don't have any clue about how muggle tech works.
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#15> Centralized (possibly randomized) wire tapping. I think some of those predictions were pretty spot on.
I think the point the author was making was that people predicted this would take much longer to become feasible than other things like "radar implants for the blind", which obviously was not the case.
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think, to expand on your point there, you can make the general observation that there is no 'WizardNet' or usage of the internet by any wizard (as far as we know). Further still°, there is a complete lack of computer technology from any of the Wizarding World™. Was this done intentionally? Were they supposed to be shunning it? Did they need it? Were they secretly Amish? That said, I think it would've been dramatica…
I think the in-universe explanation is that magic messes up electric devices, and they are thus not usable in areas with a lot of magical presence. It's not really answered if that could be fixed or not, generally wizards just don't have any clue about how muggle tech works.
Which of course implies that magic is detectable using ordinary electronic equipment (even inadvertantly - would Kings Cross Starbucks notice their WiFi dropped out twice a year?)
It also raises the question of how electric something has to be to not work. Flash photography works, so capacitors are seemingly okay. Even a simple one-wire telegraph system would be an improvement on owls.
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#17I am not surprised that a telco centric forcasts would be locked into a switched circuit mind-set.
eve in 96/97 interviewing at a british telecom board the 3 (all mainframe guys) just did not get the internet at all - ironically the board was at 207 old street
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#18We carry the PSTN over the Internet over private IP networks that interconnect with each other over the PSTN. I know, it's nitpicking.
That last one part i don't believe in.
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#19I will relate to my observation in Harry Potter books. Harry Potter universe has time machine which we know scientifically are impossible while in the same HP universe, Hermoine has to physically go to the forbidden library to read books. JK Rowling couldn't think of wikipedia or internet which both exist in real world but not time travel.
May I point you to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, I think you'd enjoy it! http://www.hpmor.com/
Re: Asking the wrong questions
#20When I see things like the RAND 'long-range forecasting' study, I always look to see if they specify ubiquity -- it's very different to assert that we'll have ultrasonic implants for the blind in a laboratory setting vs. being commonplace and woven into the fabric of society.
As William Gibson is fond of saying, "the future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed." Predicting what will become integral to our daily life is much more interesting/difficult than determining how long it would take to develop a specific technology's proof-of-concept.