Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

"It is remarkable that the tools that seem to currently dominate the world, such as the Internet, or more mundane matters such as the wheel on the suitcase of Book IV, were completely missing from these forecasts."

This is completely wrong. I can think of at least 2 victorian examples imagining the internet: 1, a series of drawings where video telecommunications is imagined, and the other a story I cannot find, written over 100 years ago I believe, about a son and mother communicating from their pods where all the worlds knowledge is accessible, and the son chooses to go "offline".



The story is called "The Machine Stops" by E. M. Forster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops


Thanks! It's also far out of copyright, here's the story itself.

http://archive.ncsa.illinois.edu/prajlich/forster.html




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: