When sci-fi becomes real, an Open Book blog hop post

 

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

What sci-fi invention would you like to make real?

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My first thought when I saw this question was that I'd love to have a Replicator. You know, the Star Trek device that you can just tell what you want to eat and it makes it? 

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As a child with no interest in cooking, but a lot of interest in snacks, this seemed like heaven to me. But, these days I've got my doubts. So many cool ideas have been badly executed by companies looking to make profits soar by cutting quality and service, I'm afraid we'd end up with something more Douglas Adams than Gene Rodenberry. Instead of "Earl Grey, piping hot" we'd get something "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

 

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A lot of scifi, for all its interest in gadgets and technology, has an underlying message about the dangers of relying on it. From Ray Bradbury's smart house horror, to the Matrix, we see again and again how something that seems like it's there to make your life easier can be a trap. At the very least, there's an element of "be careful what you wish for." 

Flying cars seemed pretty cool until it was my kid getting a driver's license. When that happened, I was pretty glad we were still tied to the ground for car travel. 

Still…I might risk it. For a holodeck :-) How about you? What scifi invention would you want in real life if you could have it?

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