4 ms·
Mobile phones as we know them today didn't exist when Gibson was writing Neuromancer. Pub date in 1984 means the MS was handed in in mid-1983 and he was writing
by cstross 12y ago
Mobile phones as we know them today didn't exist when Gibson was writing Neuromancer. Pub date in 1984 means the MS was handed in in mid-1983 and he was writing it 1981-82 (on a manual typewriter: the royalties from Neuromancer bought him his first computer, an Apple IIc).
While the idea of cellular comms dates to the 1950s (if not earlier), and some limited analog cellular service existed in some parts of the world (notably the Nordic countries from 1981), the UK didn't get analog cell service until roughly 1985; digital (over 2G GSM) didn't come along until roughly 1991. In Canada, cellphone service wouldn't have started until around the time the book was published, if not later. And, uninformed rumor to the contrary, SF isn't actually about prophesying the future.
- keithpeter 12y agoCharlie, I accept the point entirely. BUT it is interesting that a lot of people missed the possibility of personal technology in their imagining of the future (2001, Floyd using a video phone to call the kids, Gibson, Asimov et al)
- angersock 12y agoHeinlen's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Friday especially got quite a lot right.
- incision 12y ago>'BUT it is interesting that a lot of people missed the possibility of personal technology in their imagining of the future (2001, Floyd using a video phone to call the kids, Gibson, Asimov et al)' Yeah. Personally, I disagree with the notion that science fiction authors are or should mean to be making predictions with their writing. Basically, it doesn't make sense to say someone 'missed' if they weren't necessarily aiming in the first place. Though, it's probably even more common to credit an author as prescient when he 'hits' so I guess it's a wash.