Which of you are familiar with the Sci-Fi writings of Iain M Banks? As far as science-fiction authors go Iain Banks is one of our favourites over here at Gametrender. We've decided to write one of our renowned speculative pieces on technology, particularly tablet technology and have drawn a lot of inspiration from the far future Culture novels for this article.
Now the Culture novels, renowned amongst them being "Consider Phlebas" ; "State of the Art" and "Feersum Enjin" portray a far landscape of human existence which although clearly in the remit of science fiction still has a lot of analogues with modern day tech. Of course sentient robots feature and advanced AI's , in the Culture novels case these take the role of "Minds" very advanced sentient computers that operate at a far higher level than plain old human minds and predominantly control Starships. Smaller "Minds" are included in less bulky frames and are the droids of these novels.
However when speculating on mobile and pda type technology the ones that most drew this app and mobile tech reviewer's interest were the so-called "knife missiles".
What these are are literally flying micro-missiles, but somehow with this far flung future mobile tech the Culture has managed to imbue each of these hand sized PDA devices with personality and a host of features.
Just picture the scenario, a proud iPad owner of today is busy organising his life and planning his socialising or business or whatever with his little tablet computer that he is so proud of. He's a successful businessman of course, as most of us iPad owners are perceived to be! So he has a hot tub, he stumbles , he falls, the hot tub cover is not on, so his non waterproof iPad disappears into the drink and hundreds of dollars go down the drain!
Now if this was the far future waterproofing of our PDA's and tablets would be the absolutely most basic feature of a portable PC that we could expect. What we could expect, at least if Banks' future tech prognostications are to be believed is this:
Science Fiction Inspired Future Tablet Technology
Now in the far future of course anti gravity will have been mastered, so these knife missiles quite happily fly around after their owners. Could you imagine a tablet that doesn't need to be carried and is always at your beck and call? Nice! As for our puny modern tablet batteries only lasting a day and a bit if we're lucky, these knife missiles have batteries that last hundreds , if not thousands of years. And that's two speculative points there too: personal batteries that last a lifetime and of course technology that stays with a person for a lifetime too. Rather than the 3 or so years that we have until current tablets are either broken or outmoded.
And as for broken, well these knife missiles aren't flimsy gorilla-glassed , aluminium backed iPads . No, these are militarised organiser/do-anything devices that can survive the trials of deep space and blast through walls if need be!
Of course the normal features of a tablet will be present in the future, just a lot slicker and more organised, you'll not only know exactly what you want from your personal tablet , but also instantly be able to access it with computing thanks to the "minds" many , many Turing generations in front of what we now have. It also has the ability to heal wounds and meets all your needs before you know it.
Oh and of course it's a mini-missile. Tablets of 2012 take note-this is what we want from you!
Now the Culture novels, renowned amongst them being "Consider Phlebas" ; "State of the Art" and "Feersum Enjin" portray a far landscape of human existence which although clearly in the remit of science fiction still has a lot of analogues with modern day tech. Of course sentient robots feature and advanced AI's , in the Culture novels case these take the role of "Minds" very advanced sentient computers that operate at a far higher level than plain old human minds and predominantly control Starships. Smaller "Minds" are included in less bulky frames and are the droids of these novels.
However when speculating on mobile and pda type technology the ones that most drew this app and mobile tech reviewer's interest were the so-called "knife missiles".
What these are are literally flying micro-missiles, but somehow with this far flung future mobile tech the Culture has managed to imbue each of these hand sized PDA devices with personality and a host of features.
Just picture the scenario, a proud iPad owner of today is busy organising his life and planning his socialising or business or whatever with his little tablet computer that he is so proud of. He's a successful businessman of course, as most of us iPad owners are perceived to be! So he has a hot tub, he stumbles , he falls, the hot tub cover is not on, so his non waterproof iPad disappears into the drink and hundreds of dollars go down the drain!
Now if this was the far future waterproofing of our PDA's and tablets would be the absolutely most basic feature of a portable PC that we could expect. What we could expect, at least if Banks' future tech prognostications are to be believed is this:
Science Fiction Inspired Future Tablet Technology
Now in the far future of course anti gravity will have been mastered, so these knife missiles quite happily fly around after their owners. Could you imagine a tablet that doesn't need to be carried and is always at your beck and call? Nice! As for our puny modern tablet batteries only lasting a day and a bit if we're lucky, these knife missiles have batteries that last hundreds , if not thousands of years. And that's two speculative points there too: personal batteries that last a lifetime and of course technology that stays with a person for a lifetime too. Rather than the 3 or so years that we have until current tablets are either broken or outmoded.
And as for broken, well these knife missiles aren't flimsy gorilla-glassed , aluminium backed iPads . No, these are militarised organiser/do-anything devices that can survive the trials of deep space and blast through walls if need be!
Of course the normal features of a tablet will be present in the future, just a lot slicker and more organised, you'll not only know exactly what you want from your personal tablet , but also instantly be able to access it with computing thanks to the "minds" many , many Turing generations in front of what we now have. It also has the ability to heal wounds and meets all your needs before you know it.
Oh and of course it's a mini-missile. Tablets of 2012 take note-this is what we want from you!
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