Posted Oct 11 2010, 9:28 am in Miscellany
The original Star Trek television show is credited with sparking the creative genius behind a number of advances in the technology we’ve seen in our lifetime. Things like the handheld computer, the cell phone, universal translators, even the GPS were all featured in the series in some form or another. For me, the best sci fi is the kind that seems just on the verge of plausibility. If you remember the old Bionic Woman TV show, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Bionic limb replacements are already here and scientists are finding ways to connect them to the nervous system so patients can move them simply by “thinking.” Gives me shivers.
I’ve abandoned hope of seeing the flying cars The Jetsons promised us by this century, but this got me thinking. What’s your favorite fictional tech that you’d love to see in our real world? Or, is there any tech you hope never leaves the prison of its book? Tell me about it in the comments.
I’ll start us off. From The Hunger Games, I would pay big bucks for the box that parts, detangles, and dries my hair in to a sleek and smooth style just by touching it. It takes me half an hour to style my hair in the mornings and it’s rarely in what I call “good hair day” condition.
You know I adore Jeff Somers’ Avery Cates series, but I hope to God I never live long enough to see the transplant surgery he envisioned that can put a human brain into a cyborg body, particularly in the way he envisioned it. If you don’t know what I’m taking about, go read The Electric Church. What are you waiting for?
Until next time, live long and prosper.
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I’m old-fashioned. I’d like a jetpack.
Old-fashioned sci-fi? I think there’s a new genre in there…
The Star Trek transporter. Wouldn’t it be wonderful not to deal with travel hassles?
As a daily victim of the Long Island Expressway, I have to say YES!
Just about anything from the JD Robb IN DEATH series (books, I know) but the Auto-chef is way cool…not to mention the drying tube that you walk through after a shower and the weaponry that makes guns and crap completely outdated :)
I have read only one JD Robb book and don’t remember this auto-chef. I’ll give the series a shot.
I am with Linda and Karla.
Teleporting would be way cool b/c than I would get an extra 45 minutes to sleep before work. I HATE commuting. I also like the In Death series and would love the auto chef for the nights when I really don’t feel like cooking.
Teleporting would be cool but I wouldn’t want to be the first generation test dummy for that technology.
ha. me either.
i’d love the star trek teleporter thing. it’d get me out of some sticky situations. bad first date? beam me out of there scotty!
OR the flying skateboard things from back to the future (also mentioned in scott westerfeld’s UGLIES series.) that would be fun. and i have good balance, so i could really scoot around on that thing.