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Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#31

Post by rcarmo »

femto113 wrote: post #16

The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson, 1995) had many eerily prescient visions but I've always liked some of the more subtle ones: the "Neo-Victorians" who put extra value on handmade goods in a world where anything can be printed foreshadowed Etsy and the modern "artisanal" everything, the use of pictogram based language foreshadowed rising use of emojis, the Primer as a source of education accessible to anyone foreshado…

That book is simply sublime, and were it not for the class differences, I would welcome that future.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#33

Post by ip26 »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #24

Asimov in "The Caves of Steel"; Earth has a huge population that lives in huge cities, therefore it needs powerful computers as it has to track/police its massive population. Asimov guessed in 1953 that computers are a surveillance tool! "R. Daneel came to his desk with a sheaf of papers. "And those are?" asked Baley. "A list of men and women who might belong to a Medievalist organization." "How many does the list in…

The comment about "three hours" was of course supposed to impress you with the sheer speed of it- but I can't help thinking it would take only minutes today!

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#34

Post by featherrust »

ed wrote: post #5

Not retrofuture, but I can’t stop thinking about the drug described in Nexus by Ramez Naam (and I read the book years ago). The drug binds to individual neurons allowing an external system to manipulate the brain and e.g. overlay an OS GUI on your vision, enhance sensory input, basically make you a programmable superhuman. The trilogy is good but mostly because it’s fun to think about this tech. If you’re at all into…

Kinda sounds like LSD, or entheogens in general. It's not yet common (AFAIK) but they can be used in conjunction with sources of information, like logging into an administrators account.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#35

Post by femto113 »

rcarmo wrote: post #31
femto113 wrote: post #16

The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson, 1995) had many eerily prescient visions but I've always liked some of the more subtle ones: the "Neo-Victorians" who put extra value on handmade goods in a world where anything can be printed foreshadowed Etsy and the modern "artisanal" everything, the use of pictogram based language foreshadowed rising use of emojis, the Primer as a source of education accessible to anyone foreshado…

That book is simply sublime, and were it not for the class differences, I would welcome that future.

Welcome it or not we're probably on our way to living it...

http://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#36

Post by muthdra »

ed wrote: post #5

Not retrofuture, but I can’t stop thinking about the drug described in Nexus by Ramez Naam (and I read the book years ago). The drug binds to individual neurons allowing an external system to manipulate the brain and e.g. overlay an OS GUI on your vision, enhance sensory input, basically make you a programmable superhuman. The trilogy is good but mostly because it’s fun to think about this tech. If you’re at all into…

I came across the "overlay an OS GUI on your vision" ideia in a series I watched some years ago. I've been trying to google the title for an hour but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

It was about successful "neuralink" implants that did the whole brain-computer interface work but one day there was a glitch/virus/broken update and anyone with the chip who got into contact with the internet would update, fry their brains and die so I remember people hiding in what I think was an underground garage.

Does anyone remember this one?

Edit: It was called H+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZedLgAF9aEg

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#37

Post by Memosyne »

nurettin wrote: post #28
pasbesoin wrote: post #20

Clarke's "The City and the Stars" Technologically enabled immortality (in an interesting manner). Massive, crystalline data storage. Immersive gaming, including the negative, subsuming aspects of same. The individual as radical. The radical as an essential component of long-term planning and viability.

It seems the sci-fi trend for huge data storage back then was "crystals!". So were many of remote viewing devices, alien navigation systems and space fuel.

Maybe we have yet to fully explore the potential of that idea? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5D_optical_data_storage

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#38

Post by eismcc »

femto113 wrote: post #16

The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson, 1995) had many eerily prescient visions but I've always liked some of the more subtle ones: the "Neo-Victorians" who put extra value on handmade goods in a world where anything can be printed foreshadowed Etsy and the modern "artisanal" everything, the use of pictogram based language foreshadowed rising use of emojis, the Primer as a source of education accessible to anyone foreshado…

I was at a book signing at Microsoft after 9/11 and N.S. seemed to believe that The Diamond Age was no longer relevant and seemed to regret even writing it. I wonder how he feels now.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#39

Post by simonblack »

I remember when I was very young, back around 1960, that I said it was very likely that we'd have space stations, rockets to the moon, hand-held computers and excellent robots. But the one thing we'd never ever have, because of the Inverse Cube Law, was any sort of Ray Gun.

Just to spite me, I'm sure, that was the very first of many Sci-Fi predictions that became reality for me. I read a write-up on lasers in Popular Electronics as early as 1963.

Popular Electronics, July 1963 "Lasers -- The Light Fantastic"

Re: Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?

#40

Post by King-Aaron »

ed wrote: post #5

Not retrofuture, but I can’t stop thinking about the drug described in Nexus by Ramez Naam (and I read the book years ago). The drug binds to individual neurons allowing an external system to manipulate the brain and e.g. overlay an OS GUI on your vision, enhance sensory input, basically make you a programmable superhuman. The trilogy is good but mostly because it’s fun to think about this tech. If you’re at all into…

Is this what the film 'Limitless' was loosely based on?
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