TexasSwede
texasswede@gmail.com
  • About this blog
  • My Website
  • My Resume
  • XML Export Tool
  • Photos

Robert A Heinlein: Revisiting a Childhood Favorite

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Karl-Henry Martinsson Posted in Old Blog Post

rah_havespacDuring the last couple of weeks I have revisited some of the sci-fi classics I read when I was young. Robert A Heinlein was always one of my favorites. In what would be considered middle school in the US (4th-6th grade) we had one hour each week when the class was reading whatever book we had picked out in the library. At one time, I think it was in 5th grade, I read the Swedish translation of "Have Space Suit ?Will Travel". The other week I listened to this book as an audio book. This one was actually more of a radio theatre play, with different actors playing the different parts. I then followed this by listening to "Citizen of the Galaxy" and "Double Star".

The books were written in 1956, 1957 and 1958, and I noticed something interesting. Despite them taking place in the future, where space travel (even faster than light) is possible, and with all kinds of exotic technology available, many things we take for granted today are lacking.

In "Double Star", the main character is studying using an encyclopedia in the ships library. As we know today, online encyclopedias like wikipedia and internet searches have all but killed off the traditional printed encyclopedia. There is no way for a printed publication to stay current. If a celebrity or any other person dies, within minutes their wikipedia page will be updated with date/time and cause of death.

In "Citizen of the Galaxy" the missile control computers onboard the trade ships are manned by young adults with good math abilities. They seem to be somewhat aided by a rudimentary computer, but it is mainly the operator who calculate trajectory and time for release of the missiles. The result is recorded on a spool (which can be read by humans, so probably some kind of paper-like material). The concept of digital storage did not exist, and I am sure any PC (or even smart phone) today could perform the calculations needed much faster than any human, and with greater accuracy.

Some of the books also talk about huge archives, using micro film. Even if that still today is a great medium for long term storage, it is not the best choice for the kind of short term archiving used in the books. Again, the concept of digital storage does not appear in the books. The books basically build on the technology known in the 1950´s, but "enhanced" as imagined in the future.

However, there is on interesting thing in "Double Star". When recordings are made (for public broadcasts), they are "stereoscopic", i.e. 3D. It is not until the last year or two we have actually seen 3D television become common. Personally I believe that we soon will see 3D television sets where we don´t need to use special glasses (several manufacturers already have those) and that more and more tv shows and even news will be in 3D.

All this is not a slam on Robert A Heinlein or any other sci-fi writer from the past. It just illustrates how hard it is to predict a paradigm shift like PCs or the development of technology. For being almost 60 years old, the books are still very enjoyable. If you have not experienced Robert A Heinlein yet, pick up one of his books or an audiobook at the library, bookstore or favorite online retailer.

 

« What’s in a Name?
Using Lotusscript Lists For Counters »

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

HCL Ambassador 2020

HCL Ambassador 2020

IBM Champion 2014-2020

Stack Exchange

profile for Karl-Henry Martinsson on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites

Notes/Domino Links

  • Planet Lotus Planet Lotus
  • IBM dW Forums IBM dW Forums
  • StackOverflow StackOverflow

Recent Posts

  • Notes and Domino v12 is here!
  • NTF Needs Your Help
  • Helpful Tools – Ytria EZ Suite (part 2)
  • Busy, busy – But wait: There is help!
  • Semantic UI – An alternative to Bootstrap?

Recent Comments

  • Lotus Script Multi-thread Message Box [SOLVED] – Wanted Solution on ProgressBar class for Lotusscript
  • Viet Nguyen on Keep up with COVID-19 though Domino!
  • Viet Nguyen on Keep up with COVID-19 though Domino!
  • Mark Sullivan on Looking for a HP calculator? Look no further!
  • Lynn He on About This Blog

My Pages

  • How to write better code in Notes

Archives

  • June 2021 (1)
  • April 2021 (2)
  • March 2021 (1)
  • August 2020 (3)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (2)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (3)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • November 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (5)
  • August 2018 (2)
  • July 2018 (3)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (2)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (4)
  • December 2017 (3)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (2)
  • July 2017 (6)
  • May 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (2)
  • October 2016 (3)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (2)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (4)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (4)
  • December 2015 (3)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • October 2015 (1)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (5)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (2)
  • March 2015 (3)
  • February 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (10)
  • December 2014 (1)
  • November 2014 (3)
  • October 2014 (3)
  • September 2014 (13)
  • August 2014 (6)
  • July 2014 (5)
  • May 2014 (3)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (10)
  • December 2013 (5)
  • November 2013 (2)
  • October 2013 (5)
  • September 2013 (4)
  • August 2013 (7)
  • July 2013 (3)
  • June 2013 (1)
  • May 2013 (4)
  • April 2013 (7)
  • March 2013 (8)
  • February 2013 (9)
  • January 2013 (5)
  • December 2012 (7)
  • November 2012 (13)
  • October 2012 (10)
  • September 2012 (2)
  • August 2012 (1)
  • July 2012 (1)
  • June 2012 (3)
  • May 2012 (11)
  • April 2012 (3)
  • March 2012 (2)
  • February 2012 (5)
  • January 2012 (14)
  • December 2011 (4)
  • November 2011 (7)
  • October 2011 (8)
  • August 2011 (4)
  • July 2011 (1)
  • June 2011 (2)
  • May 2011 (4)
  • April 2011 (4)
  • March 2011 (7)
  • February 2011 (5)
  • January 2011 (17)
  • December 2010 (9)
  • November 2010 (21)
  • October 2010 (4)
  • September 2010 (2)
  • July 2010 (3)
  • June 2010 (2)
  • May 2010 (3)
  • April 2010 (8)
  • March 2010 (3)
  • January 2010 (5)
  • November 2009 (4)
  • October 2009 (7)
  • September 2009 (1)
  • August 2009 (7)
  • July 2009 (1)
  • June 2009 (4)
  • May 2009 (1)
  • April 2009 (1)
  • February 2009 (1)
  • January 2009 (3)
  • December 2008 (1)
  • November 2008 (1)
  • October 2008 (7)
  • September 2008 (7)
  • August 2008 (6)
  • July 2008 (5)
  • June 2008 (2)
  • May 2008 (5)
  • April 2008 (4)
  • March 2008 (11)
  • February 2008 (10)
  • January 2008 (8)

Categories

  • AppDev (9)
  • Blogging (11)
    • WordPress (5)
  • Design (5)
    • Graphics (1)
    • UI/UX (2)
  • Featured (5)
  • Financial (2)
  • Food (5)
    • Baking (3)
    • Cooking (3)
  • Generic (11)
  • History (5)
  • Hobbies (10)
    • LEGO (4)
    • Photography (4)
  • Humor (1)
  • IBM/Lotus (175)
    • #Domino2025 (14)
    • #DominoForever (8)
    • #IBMChampion (46)
    • Administration (7)
    • Cloud (7)
    • CollabSphere (8)
    • Community (47)
    • Connect (33)
    • ConnectED (12)
    • Connections (3)
    • HCL (12)
    • HCL Master (1)
    • IBM Think (1)
    • Lotusphere (46)
    • MWLUG (25)
    • Notes/Domino (97)
      • Domino 11 (7)
    • Sametime (8)
    • Verse (14)
    • Volt (2)
    • Watson (6)
  • Life (8)
  • Microsoft (7)
    • .NET (2)
    • C# (1)
    • Visual Studio (1)
  • Movies (3)
  • Old Blog Post (259)
  • Personal (23)
  • Programming (83)
    • App Modernization (11)
    • Formula (4)
    • Lotusscript (46)
    • NetSuite (4)
      • SuiteScript (3)
    • node.js (4)
    • XPages (4)
  • Reviews (9)
  • Sci-Fi (4)
  • Software (24)
    • Flight Simulator (2)
    • Games (4)
    • Open Source (2)
    • Utilities (6)
  • Technology (37)
    • Aviation (3)
    • Calculators (2)
    • Computers (6)
    • Gadgets (7)
    • Mobile Phones (7)
    • Science (3)
    • Tablets (2)
  • Travel (6)
    • Texas (2)
    • United States (1)
  • Uncategorized (15)
  • Web Development (50)
    • Frameworks (23)
      • Bootstrap (14)
    • HTML/CSS (12)
    • Javascript (32)
      • jQuery (23)

Administration

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Tracking

Creeper
MediaCreeper
  • Family Pictures
© TexasSwede 2008-2014