Most and Least Favourite Science Fiction 'Device'

[Callum91]

Does an Imperator Titan count as a device?

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Parallel universes aren't always bad...

 

[Stigmata]

fave from startrek: Inertial dampening.

Except when it goes wrong and erases blameless technicians from existence (Redmption Ark)!

Nanotech Universal Constructors are cool.

 

[DotCommunist]

Except when it goes wrong and erases blameless technicians from existence (Redmption Ark)!

Nanotech Universal Constructors are cool.

except when they spawn self replicating hegominising spawns

 

[DotCommunist]

I never quite worked out what a knife-missile actually is, but they're fucking cool nonetheless

Iain M Banks gives good hyperspace as well.

Also, the bit in Consider Phlebas where the bloke jumps off the ship and his anti-gravity doesn't work because there's only fake gravity caused by spin. That's what sci-fi should be like, you make up a bunch of silly rules and then stick to them properly; not like all this Star Trek "the plot requires us to travel through time so lets invent a way of doing it that's completely different from the last time we did it and which, for some reason, we'll never be able to do again" shit

your knife missile is the same as the sentient robot, only less intelligent and far more aggressive

 

[DotCommunist]

Does an Imperator Titan count as a device?

not really, like capital starships they are just battlefield superweapons

 

[JohnnyOrange]

 

[chainsaw cat]

Love : world populated long ago, now re-discovered by human race.

Hate: crude communist/fascist proxies defeated by crude freedom loving US Marine proxies in space in the future.

 

[Mr Moose]

Earth like Planets

There are so many of them - ok its a big galaxy, one of but many, but you'd be most likely to fetch up on one that differed more in atmospheric pressure or gravity.

Even a bit more gravity would make walking a right pain in behind and the wrong Atmospheric pressure could spoil your whole day.

Setting for Earth like Planets in quarry or gravel pit where you can still see the tractor marks left by the last load of aggregates that were dug out.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Likes - and would like: Holodeck and replicator

Dislikes: Computers with any kind of intelligence or personality. It generally ends in tears

 

[pboi]

Lightsaber > all

 

[Cid]

If I was going all psueds corner I'd say that the 'aliens among us' stealth thing is little more than a cold war fantasy

Equally:

empaths/telekineses etc.

Fuck off back to the realm of fantasy pls

Is little more than a reflection of '80's/'90s corporate culture and the boom in therapists etc.

 

[Mr Moose]

Love Robots.

Esp Marvin, R. Daneel Olivaw, Giskard in fact...a thread of its own?...

 

[Andrew Hertford]

'The Age of the Pussyfoot' by Frederick Pohl, written in the 60s; inwhich he has everyone going around with little devices called 'Joymakers'. You can use them for talking to anyone else anywhere in the world, listening to music, taking and sending pictures and more. Wouldn't you just love one of those?

 

[Cid]

Teleportation - Yawn
Transcendence -

Bollocks, see Tiger, tiger.

 

[Mr Moose]

'The Age of the Pussyfoot' by Frederick Pohl, written in the 60s; inwhich he has everyone going around with little devices called 'Joymakers'. You can use them for talking to anyone else anywhere in the world, listening to music, taking and sending pictures and more. Wouldn't you just love one of those?

It'll never happen.

 

[Stigmata]

Megastructures are cool as fuck. Ringworlds, Dyson Spheres. Anyone read the Larry Niven essay where he talks about the thoroughly bonkers Megasphere? That's the coolest thing ever.

 

[DotCommunist]

Megastructures are cool as fuck. Ringworlds, Dyson Spheres. Anyone read the Larry Niven essay where he talks about the thoroughly bonkers Megasphere? That's the coolest thing ever.

Matrioska Brains ftw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_brain

 

[Missez]

I always thought it would be really cool to have the folding house from a 'Dark is the Sun' by Philip Jose Farmer. It folds up into a small portable box and would make camping a much better experience.

 

[contadino]

Best: Have to concur. It's the lightsaber.
Worst: Mobile phones. Especially, silly ones that do crazy stuff like take photos or show you where you are on a map.

 

[The Octagon]

Living ships and Wormhole Weapons FTW -

 

[Wolveryeti]

Favourite: The temporal distortion weapons from Star Trek - bending space time ftw

Least Favourite: Tractor beams. Anything with 'tractor' in it is never going to be awesome.

 

[Mr Moose]

Gravity in a spaceship without some kind of explanation - like in KSR's Red Mars frinstance - is a bit rubbish.

 

[DotCommunist]

Everyone noes the LEXX is the best living starcraft

 

[Mr Moose]

Megastructures are cool as fuck. Ringworlds, Dyson Spheres. Anyone read the Larry Niven essay where he talks about the thoroughly bonkers Megasphere? That's the coolest thing ever.

How are you shifting all that stuff though. Its hard enough to get something the size of a Nissan Micra into orbit.

Using gravity to move matter to construct planetessimals - yep pehaps
Making structures out of tons of plastics and metal - gtfo surely?

 

[Mr Moose]

Everyone noes the LEXX is the best living starcraft

And one frisky show to boot.

 

[DotCommunist]

thats cause it wasn't made by puritan americans

 

[ChrisC]

Fave Sci Fi handgun has to be the one from chasm city- spun hyperdiamond that uses clockwork to fire ice bullets at lethal speed

Yeah I liked that one.

 

[DotCommunist]

some uber-geek essay on a sci fi 'device' here:http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Planet-Killers.html

all about Planet Killers like lexx/death star etc

 

[Mr Moose]

some uber-geek essay on a sci fi 'device' here:http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Planet-Killers.html

all about Planet Killers like lexx/death star etc

Blimey, bet he's a hoot to work with.