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Why did Sci-Fi largely fail to predict smartphones?
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one of the most striking things about sci-fi from even the near past is the total lack of smartphones. What is it that prevented most writers from envisioning them?

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Smartphones and quadcopter drones are the two big things I point to whenever people either get too self-righteous or too critical whenever it comes to sci-fi's (in)ability to predict the future, yeah.

Turns out a MASSIVE frailty isn't just possibility but also form factor and application. Every sci-fi show that has smartphone-like devices usually has them as watches more or less.

Inspector Gadget unironically got it right the closest as far as I can say. In fact, spy-fi generally does future prediction better because it focuses on things being convenient, cool and granular far more.

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6 months ago