Jack Birnam, twenty four years old (seventeen Terrestrial), hikes alone in the Andromeda Range which the Ythrians call the Weathermother:
"In case of serious difficulty, he need merely send a distress signal by his pocket transceiver. Homing on it, an aircar from the nearest rescue station should reach him in minutes." (p. 423)
The transceiver is a "...flat object..." (p. 424) that does more than transmit distress signals. It beeps on receipt of "...a general broadcast on the emergency band." (ibid.) Then, having flipped a switch for two-way, Jack converses with Ivar Holm at Andromeda Rescue Station Four. So there are mobile phones in this period of the Technic History. We keep getting mixed messages on this issue.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
It was with Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's characters using "pocket computers" in THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE that I first recall the consistent use of what we now call "iphones" in an SF story. And that was way back in 1975!
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment