Arthur C. Clarke has just died. The short story by Vinge above is strangely appropriate. He wrote tons of science fiction, and was credited with coming up with a number of technological developments well before their time in his works, such as geo-synchronous satellite orbits. [In fact, I'm sure at some point I read an entire book by him where he congratulated himself for being such a visionary. It was a very disappointing read. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the thing, and am having trouble tracking it down - any ideas?]
Apparently he did this by grounding his fiction in realisable scientific principles, unlike, say, Jules Verne.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”
- Arthur C. Clarke
He famously wrote a 10-word story for Wired.com. They asked for 6 words, but he refused to lower the word-count:
“God said, ‘Cancel Program GENESIS.’ The universe ceased to exist.”
There are a number of examples of proper 6-word fiction stories (some that actually tell a story) at Wired.com, and a handful of graphics.
Some of my favourites:
Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn
Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee
Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore
And, ever the quirky systematic nerd:
Tick tock tick tock tick tick.
- Neal Stephenson
