Re: Things presented in-story as Good Ideas that seem like really Bad Ideas

In article <vbnesl$r81$1@panix2.panix.com>,
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

In article <lk79hhFp0bkU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

Lucky Starr's "Council Of Science", the Venus Belt, the Federation's
"Prime Directive".  Things like that.
>
Examples?

>
When I watched SF as a kid, everybody had some sort of pocket communicating
device.  Kirk had a communicator, Napoleon Solo had a fountain pen, and
even Maxwell Smart had a shoephone.
>
But not ONCE did any of them ever get a call about their car warranty.

I read a review of NBC's Search (1972 to 1973) in which the reviewer
was greatly distracted by the agents' scanners. These were communication
and information gathering devices compact enough to fit into a tie-
clip or a ring jewel. They seemed to have infinite range and nothing
appeared to block the signal. The reviewer speculated that perhaps
they used phased neutrinos.

Huh. Only 23 episodes. It felt like it ran longer than a year.
--
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