I just rewatched the pilot episode of Babylon 5. The space station has a daily newspaper.
It’s always fun to read old SF and see what they got right and what they missed.
Probably the king of misinformation is ‘The Man Who Sold The Moon.’ Gets every detail wrong, but it’s still a fun read. One of the businessman/hero’s greatest inventions is an automatic light switch you don’t have to touch to turn on lights when you enter a room. Best invention of 1954!
Thank you for the recommendation. I like the aesthetics of the future envisioned in the 20th century like some of Asimov books with their huge computers because he didn’t know that the future was in miniaturization of the computer. He believed that the path to increase computer power was a physical expansion of current technology.
Thank you for the read, it is a very good story. It was funny for me that a programmer would reinvent the wheel from first concepts, even if that reinvention needed to create computation again.
I think it shows that overreliance on computers would make us abstract basic concepts until no one knows such things as basic arithmetic.
It is the comparison between the tech enthusiast with doors that open with a command and the tech user that has a gun next to their printer if it makes a weird sound.
I would wait until after the kid has finished elementary school and under supervision. My kid should want to play with his friends outside and sometimes with an online game, not stay in social media watching short-form content all day.
I just rewatched the pilot episode of Babylon 5. The space station has a daily newspaper.
It’s always fun to read old SF and see what they got right and what they missed.
Probably the king of misinformation is ‘The Man Who Sold The Moon.’ Gets every detail wrong, but it’s still a fun read. One of the businessman/hero’s greatest inventions is an automatic light switch you don’t have to touch to turn on lights when you enter a room. Best invention of 1954!
Thank you for the recommendation. I like the aesthetics of the future envisioned in the 20th century like some of Asimov books with their huge computers because he didn’t know that the future was in miniaturization of the computer. He believed that the path to increase computer power was a physical expansion of current technology.
https://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~friedan/physics_readings/Asimov, Isaac/Asimov, Isaac, 1958, "The Feeling of Power".pdf
Eight pages.
One of my all time favorite Asimov stories.
Thank you for the read, it is a very good story. It was funny for me that a programmer would reinvent the wheel from first concepts, even if that reinvention needed to create computation again.
I think it shows that overreliance on computers would make us abstract basic concepts until no one knows such things as basic arithmetic.
If you want to scare yourself, talk to some current day grade school teachers.
I have heard various teachers on social media speak out about the current education system in the USA.
It is dire out there with students using AI with text to speech and speech to text to avoid reading.
Apparently, actual techbros make sure their kids don’t see a screen until they’ve graduated college.
It is the comparison between the tech enthusiast with doors that open with a command and the tech user that has a gun next to their printer if it makes a weird sound.
I would wait until after the kid has finished elementary school and under supervision. My kid should want to play with his friends outside and sometimes with an online game, not stay in social media watching short-form content all day.