When science fiction becomes reality
I never read much Arthur C. Clarke that I can recall. Heinlein and Dick were more my style when it came to science fiction. That said, Adrian Monck snags a great piece of the past with his salvaging of this from Liz Donovan.
From 2001: A Space Odyssey: An astronaut reads the news:
...he would hold the front page while he quickly searched the headlines and noted the items that interested him.
...One by one he would conjure up the world's major electronic papers; he knew the codes of the more important ones by heart, and had no need to consult the list on the back of his pad.
...Each (headline) had its own two-digit reference; when he punched that, the postage-stamp-sized rectangle would expand until it neatly filled the screen and he could read it with comfort.
That was published 40 years ago. Happy Birthday!
These are the sorts of references -- and there are plenty of them -- that make me think we need to hire a science fiction writer to help us understand and plan for the future. I know that Orson Scott Card doesn't think much of us, but that's probably a good thing in this case. It would help us think broadly and grandly. I wonder if he's available....