A computer in your wrist watch, a car that refuses to start if the driver is drunk, a micro-chip book instead of a paperback... Science fiction? No, by the year 2000, all these and much more will be part of our everyday lives.That's from the back cover blurb for The Mighty Micro by Christopher Evans. It was published in 1979. I've just found my copy of the revised paperback edition of 1980, so expect more extracts over the next few days.
Re:Done, Done and On To The Next One
davorg on 2003-12-10T11:15:31
Oh, I agree that they've all been done. But are they really "part of our everyday lives"?Re:Done, Done and On To The Next One
2shortplanks on 2003-12-10T11:40:42
At least half (no, more than that) of the books I purchase these days are either ebooks or audio books in some sort of DRMed 'mp3' format.As for the others? No, not really.
The watch computer? Not really that useful - doesn't have enough space for ui controls. I'm still waiting for bluetooth to get advanced enough that my watch can sync with my laptop/phone and I can at least get a list of my appointments on the damn thing. That having been said, I haven't worn a watch in years - why bother when I have at least one of my phone/pda/camera on me at all times.
The person who thought we'd all be having incar breathalizers was completely mad. Unless we're going to have one car each, I can't see anyone deciding to fit something that means we all have to breath in and out of the same tube to their car out of choice. It makes sense for people who would otherwise lose their licence, but for the rest of us...sheesh.
The interesting thing about those two last things is that they could have been predicted back in 1979. It's not some crazy aspect of the technology, it's just thinking though what people would actually do with the devices.
