Archive for May, 2010
15 Sci-Fi Predictions That Came True
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Sci-fi gets a bad rap for a lot of its cornier stories, so it’s easy to forget just how prescient the genre can be. Science fiction is all about extrapolating a future based on technology only slightly beyond imagination, and sci-fi storytellers have in many ways acted as leading voices in the development of the tech and ideas we all take for granted. Here are 15 devices that sounded outlandish when people first read about them but are now such an integral part of our lives that we wouldn’t know what to do without them. These are just a few of the many sci-fi predictions that came true:
1. Scuba Diving
First mentioned: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne, 1875
Although diving suits existed when Jules Verne’s novel was published, they were the stiff, clumsy ones that limited the user’s movement and connected them via a long tube to an air supply above. But in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, characters use a backpack-sized breathing apparatus that presaged modern divers’ tanks decades before they were used.
2. Credit Cards
First mentioned: Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy, 1888
Edward Bellamy’s novel envisioned a 21st century in which money was eliminated and people carried cards that held a certain amount of capital that could be spent. The idea’s a little closer to debit cards than credit cards, though the principle is the same.
3. Automatic Doors
First mentioned: The Sleeper Awakes, H.G. Wells, 1899
Originally published as When the Sleeper Wakes but given a title tweak when Wells polished it in 1910, this novel was the earliest depiction of the kinds of automatic doors that are now used in everything from banks to convenience stores. Wells’ device rolled up like a desktop rather than slide vertically, though it’s the same core idea.
4. The Rotating Space Station
First mentioned: The Prince of Space, Jack Williamson, 1931
Although many people first took notice of the idea of rotating space stations in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the concept was first popularized in 1931 in Jack Williamson’s novel The Prince of Space. The story’s City of Space was a large metal cylinder that rotated to simulate gravity through outward force. Modern space flight uses this same idea.
5. Artificial Womb
First mentioned: Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 1932
Aldous Huxley’s dystopian Brave New World was the first sci-fi story to describe a world in which children are grown in artificial wombs outside the mother. The tech now has very real implications.
6. Geosynchronous Satellites
First mentioned: “Extra-Terrestrial Relays,” Arthur C. Clarke, 1945 (Wireless World magazine)
Arthur C. Clarke makes repeat appearances on this list, thanks to his inventiveness and method for conjuring seemingly magical new devices that would soon be commonplace. In 1945, he published an article titled “Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?” that posited the idea of satellites that orbited the Earth in such a way that they were always over the same spot on the planet. Because of his forward thinking, geosynchronous orbits are now often referred to as “Clarke orbits.”
7. Television Surveillance
First mentioned: 1984, George Orwell, 1949
George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel about totalitarianism spawned a number of phrases and ideas, from Big Brother to doublethink. It was the concept of omnipresent telescreens that foreshadowed the real-world rise of security cameras and closed-circuit television as a criminal deterrent. We now deal every day with cameras and monitors that seemed farfetched 60 years ago.
8. The Pocket Calculator
First mentioned: Foundation, Isaac Asimov, 1951
Isaac Asimov’s multi-volume Foundation series has won numerous awards, and it was in the first novel that he introduced a concept that would later be recognizable to school children around the world. Calculators in 1951 weren’t remotely pocket-sized, and computers spanned desks and entire rooms, but Asimov was already writing about a world where handheld computational devices were the norm.
9. The Inflatable Air Lock
First mentioned: Space Tug, Murray Leinster, 1953
This reference to inflatable air locks, a more compact alternative to fixed ones, appeared in print 12 years before the Soviet space vehicle Voskhod 2 used the same technology. That voyage was the first space walk in history.
10. Computer-Aided Design
First mentioned: The Door Into Summer, Robert Heinlein, 1956
Drafting programs that use computer software to create schematics and designs are now standard in the industry, but Robert Heinlein’s 1956 imagining of a computer-aided design system was a few years ahead of its real-world adoption. Real CAD use didn’t explode until the 1960s.
11. The Light Sail
First mentioned: The Lady Who Sailed the Soul, Cordwainer Smith, 1960
Light sails, also known as solar sails, use radiation pressure emanating from stars to push an object’s sails, which are made of thin mirrors. The first major use of the idea appeared in this 1960 novel, with the fictional sail stretching 20,000 miles to catch an enormous amount of energy and propel its craft at high speeds. Real solar sails are now being tested in vacuums, and minor deployment tests have taken place on space stations.
12. Digital Books
First mentioned: Return From the Stars, Stanislaw Lem, 1961
Digital readers like Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad have helped popularize the idea of reading electronic copies of books and shopping for them via a digital store, but it was Stanislaw Lem’s 1961 novel Return From the Stars that first tested the waters with the concept. The story tells of how books have been turned into “crystals with recorded contents” that are read and navigated using touch-screen technology. Fifty years later, you can buy something that does the same thing.
13. Online Newspapers
First mentioned: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke, 1968
Clarke’s seminal sci-fi novel, paired with Stanley Kubrick’s film of the same name, was the first to popularize the notion of reading newspapers online. The book’s descriptions of being able to scan through the world’s daily papers sounds a lot like the now-common practice of visiting news sites and aggregators to get the latest headlines.
14. PDAs
First mentioned: The Mote in God’s Eye, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, 1974
Niven was noted for his prominence in the field of hard sci-fi, the subgenre that pays a closer attention to technical details than other stories do, and this 1974 work with Jerry Pournelle was the first appearance of what modern readers recognize as a personal data assistant, or pocket computer. The book’s device even uses a stylus, much like the popular PalmPilot would in the late 1990s.
15. Laptop Computers
First mentioned: Inherit the Stars, James P. Hogan, 1977
Although computing had made great strides by 1977, the idea of a portable computer was still largely fictional, especially if the computer in question was supposed to be small enough to fit on someone’s lap. But that’s just what James P. Hogan had in mind when he wrote of powerful personal computers small enough to fit inside briefcases. It’s a little head-spinning to realize that you’re probably reading this on a machine that most people hadn’t conceived of 30 years ago. Science fiction has a funny way of working out like that.
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10 Tech Milestones That Changed The World
Monday, May 24th, 2010
The nature of technology is its constant disappearance into the background of our lives. The things that once seemed so new and outlandish that they might as well be magical are now old hat, and have become the inventions and innovations we rely on without a second thought. The following tech milestones changed the world by making everything from communications to health different than it used to be, and they’re now a part of our everyday lives.
1. The first car patent: January 29, 1886
Karl Benz, the founder of Mercedes-Benz, is typically thought of as the father of modern automobiles thanks to his pioneering work in engine and car design. In 1885, he created the Benz Patent Motorwagen, the first automobile created to generate its own power. It was patented early the next year, and models began selling in 1888, making Benz’s automobile the first to be sold in history.
2. Human flight: December 17, 1903
Every school child learns the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the Ohio-born brothers responsible for the first successful heavier-than-air manned flight at the dawn of the 20th century. They also developed the technology and controls that would make fixed-wing aircraft flight a reality. The first flight lasted only 12 seconds and spanned just 120 feet, but it was enough to begin the revolution that would affect travel, economy, and militaries forever.
3. Open-heart surgery: September 2, 1952
Although methods have surgery have since changed drastically, this operation at the University of Minnesota the first successful attempt to perform surgery on a heart by stopping it (in this instance, using hyopthermia). Later machines would be able to continue circulating blood and oxygen in the patient by bypassing the heart, but this early method was still the first instance in which surgeons realized how effective their new techniques could be.
4. Sputnik 1: October 4, 1957
Taking an early lead in the space race of the mid-20th century, the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 was the first man-made object to orbit the planet. In addition to technological data gathered about the ionosphere and other Earth conditions, the device heated the competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to explore space, leading eventually to the United States’ successful Apollo missions to the Moon.
5. Microchips: September 12, 1958
Jack Kilby, a Texas Instruments engineer, is often credited with inventing the modern microchip. His integrated chip, made of germanium, was a huge breakthrough in computing technology that would allow electronic circuits to be miniaturized. Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor is cited as the co-inventor for having a similar idea but using silicon instead of germanium. That single idea won him the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000, and the integrated chip is now responsible for running just about everything in your life, including the computer you’re using right now.
6. Cell phones: 1973
Before they responded to touch and voice commands, cell phones were brick-like monsters just beginning to take advantage of the power of mobile communications. There were models as early as the 1950s, though they were inhibited by enormous size and lack of power. It wasn’t until 1973 that Motorola put out the first cell phone to be commercialized for use outside of vehicles. The first cellular phone call occured in April of that year, when Motorola’s Martin Cooper, the phone’s chief inventor, placed a call to his rival at Bell Labs. After advances in the 1980s and 1990s led to explosive growth and shrinking phones, the cell phone became a necessary tool for everyone, capable of storing numbers and personal data and acting as a portable personal computer.
7. Laptops: September 1981
Although there were many different machines and tech milestones along the way in the development of portable computers, the Osborne 1 is generally considered to be the first major portable computer. Released in 1981, the Osborne Corporation’s machine had a 5-inch screen and single-sided floppy disk drives. Inspired by the Xerox NoteTaker, a portable computer that never went into production but for which some prototyps were made, the Osborne retailed for $1,795 (about $4,200 in today’s dollars) and sold relatively well until it was passed by the Kaypro II. Still, the “luggable” computer would help pave the way for smaller, sleeker, and more powerful models that would truly be laptops. The latest wave of small netbooks are a dream made possible only by the work put in 30 years ago.
8. Compact discs: October 1982
Compact discs were a true tech milestone and revolution in music distribution and consumption: Much stronger and longer-lasting than LPs or casettes, the new format raised the bar with a digital standard that has yet to be passed in terms of popularity. The first album to be released on CD was Billy Joel’s 1978 album 52nd Street, which hit shelves in Japan along with Sony’s CD player on October 1, 1982. The overwhelming success of the format led to new uses for compact discs, including data storage and personal CD creation for consumers.
9. Napster: 1999
The heady days of 1999-2001 were the peak of Napster and the dawn of digital piracy. The peer-to-peer music-sharing service changed the way consumers think about music (and paying for it) so quickly that it took regulators a while to catch up. Although Napster has since converted to a legal, pay-based service, the spirit of free media and copyright-skirting lives on and has become a key part of online culture.
10. Apple’s iPod: 2001
Appearing in October 2001, Apple’s iPod would eventually become the most popular portable media player on the market. Sales picked up speed in 2004 and exploded in 2005, making the iPod the default mp3 player and one of the most famous tech devices in the world. By radically simplifying the interface and making the experience as user-friendly as possible, iPods have become the aesthetic and technological standard for portable music.
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Top 20 Tech Blogs
Monday, May 17th, 2010
There’s too much information online, plain and simple. It’s impossible to wade through all of it without having a great set of filters that bring you the best content available, especially when it comes to information about the web itself, technology, and online culture. The tech blog community is also full of cross-promotions and burgeoning working relationships, so it’s not uncommon for the sites listed below to reference or link to each other. Together, these are the 20 best tech blogs around, the ones that will keep you informed and let you know what’s coming so you can stay ahead of the curve:
1. Gizmodo
Gizmodo is part of the sprawling Gawker Media empire, and its focus on tech and innovation has made it a great resource for the latest news and reviews about everything from smart phones to HDTVs. The blog gained even more notoriety with its scoop of Apple’s new iPhone prototype.
2. TechCrunch
A member of the Crunch network (which appears again on this list), TechCrunch has been around since 2005, which is eons in the tech world. One of the better news resources available.
3. Mashable
Mashable bills itself as “The Social Media Guide,” and that’s exactly what they’ve become. The site updates constantly with news, reviews, and links in a wide variety of categories, from social media to computing to business. They’re also a great place to go for job seekers looking to find a niche in new media.
4. ZDNet
Many of the blogs on this list are successes because of their intelligent, team-based approach to news, and ZDNet’s no different. Their homepage makes it easy to navigate stories by topic and author, so you can drill down into an area and learn more about, say, the business side of tech or the next wave of software. They’ve also got informative articles about computing safety.
5. Engadget
Engadget was co-founded by a former Gizmodo editor and is a part of Weblogs, Inc., which is now owned by AOL. The site actually has nine different versions in different languages devoted to tech news around the world. Their focus on consumer electronics keeps them a player in the tech blog world. They’ve even got a podcast.
6. Slashdot
This no-frills approach to the latest happenings in tech is subtitled “News for nerds. Stuff that matters.” The site is driven by user-submitted stories about science and technology news, and it’s been around since 1997, making it a member of the old guard. Users can rate and rank stories based on worth.
7. BoingBoing
BoingBoing began life as a magazine in 1988 and became a website in 1995. It’s a bit broader than some other tech blogs, but it’s main focuses are on science, technology, consumer electronics, intellectual property rights, cyberpunk, and basically whatever the editors think is fun and cool and geeky. It’s a good place to go to get broader opinions on modern tech issues.
8. Lifehacker
Although the term began with a more narrowly focused definition, at this point, a “life hack” is really anything that makes your day a little easier, especially if it does so in an innovative and clever way. Lifehacker is all about improving your tech life through a variety of tips and tricks, from streamlining your RSS reader to scoring points with customer service reps. The site is another member of the Gawker family.
9. Kuro5hin
Another reader-driven site, Kuro5hin (pronounced “corrosion”) emphasizes tech and culture with a collaborative approach to content generation that lets users create and submit articles for group approval.
10. O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media has a variety of publications, both in print and online, devoted to technology, and their home page is a great place to get tons of news, reviews, and videos about the latest developments in the field. They also offer Safari Books Online, a subscription-based service that grants users access to more than 7,000 technical books whose texts have been put online.
11. CNET
CNET’s online portal is loaded with stories and reviews designed to help you make the best choice possible before investing in a new piece of technology. They’ve been in the business since the online acceleration of the mid-1990s, and their product rundowns are fantastic.
12. Valleywag
Gawker Media’s an empire for a reason: Their site Valleywag is a news and gossip round-up of Silicon Valley players, and it mixes news and humor with admitted rumors to create a unique spin on tech. It’s not strong enough to be a main source of news, but if you’re looking for playful commentary on tech happenings, this is the place.
13. ReadWriteWeb
Launched in 2003, ReadWriteWeb focuses on web technology with an emphasis on Web 2.o, that loose association of services and ideas revolving around social networks, online communities, and the ability to use the web to share and create content instead of just disseminate text. It’s one of the most popular sites in the world, and offers in-depth features as well as user guides on topics like dealing with Facebook’s privacy policies.
14. Bits
The New York Times’ Bits blog (which stands for “business, innovation, technology, society”) uses the reporting muscle of the Times’ staff with smart opinion to provide incisive news and commentary on what’s happening right now in tech. The 11-member staff is spread across the country, and their site offers podcasts, video blogs, and constantly updated stories throughout the day.
15. CrunchGear
A more narrowly focused member of the Crunch Network, Crunch Gear is devoted to the latest gadgets and hardware available for consumers, as well as news and rumors about what’s coming around the bend. The news is mixed with fun features, like a week devoted to Gadgets of Days Gone By.
16. Gadget Lab
This blog from Wired magazine is all about hardware. They’ve got a lot of helpful how-to pieces about maximizing personal performance on phones and other gadgets, and they’ve been a great source for the latest development in the computer tablet battles between Apple and Adobe. Follow them here on Twitter.
17. Make
Owned by O’Reilly Media, Make magazine covers interesting and tech-oriented do-it-yourself projects, and the blog has a great round-up of tips and news revolving around creating unique and helpful things, whether it’s a new workbench for your home office or a specialized camera stand.
18. VentureBeat
VentureBeat takes a financial analysis approach to tech, examining how the latest trends and hardware affect national and global markets. The main site has a variety of micro-sites under its name, including MobileBeat, devoted to phone tech; GreenBeat, which deals with environmental issues; and GamesBeat, which follows video games and platforms.
19. GigaOM
GigaOM shoots for a broad but educated reader base with its Web 2.0 focus on business innovation, conferences, and news and reviews of the latest tech offerings. They also have a section for digital jobs, as well as information about clean tech and open-source tech.
20. Google Blog
Google is constantly updating its tech offerings, and the official Google Blog is the best way to stay up to date on the ones you use (GMail) and the ones that are still looking to succeed (Wave, Buzz). A handy place to check in and learn how to get the most out of the biggest search engine in the world.
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