We love the internet and couldn\u2019t imagine life without it, but just a few short generations ago it was the stuff of pure imagination.<\/p>\n
Over the last century (give or take), there have been numerous scientific inventions which were predicted (to some extent) by the imaginations of the science fiction writers of the time. Here is a look at 7 books that predicted the internet and how we would use it.<\/p>\n
(In order of date published)<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the London Times of 1904\u201d \u2013 Mark Twain \u2013 published 1898<\/strong><\/p>\n Funny to think of \u201c1904\u201d as being in the distant future!<\/p>\n In this short story (written at a time when the landline telephone was a new thing), Mark Twain dreamed up an invention called the \u201ctelelectroscope\u201d.<\/p>\n In the story, this telelectroscope used the phone system to support a global network for information sharing (Um, anyone else thinking dial-up?) which would be visible and audible from anywhere. His short story involved people from around the world being able to keep up to date with each other\u2019s daily deeds, to quote \u201cthe daily doings of the globe made visible to everybody, and audibly discussable too, by witnesses separated by any number of leagues\u201d. So, basically, he predicted both the internet and social media way back in 1898 when most people hadn\u2019t even heard the sound of a phone ringing.<\/p>\n A Logic Named Joe – Murray Leinster \u2013 published March 1946<\/strong><\/p>\n Our next short story was written in 1946 by Murray Leinster.<\/p>\n In his story \u201cA Logic named Joe\u201d everyone has a device in their homes called a \u201cLogic\u201d. This Logic is connected to a data \u201ctank\u201d which possess all knowledge. The Logic is used to provide people with information as they need it.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the \u201cLogic\u201d named Joe has a defect which causes it to become self-aware and it starts to provide information it \u201cthinks\u201d you need \u2013 even if that is information you shouldn\u2019t have! The result in the story is all the \u201cLogics\u201d around the city starting to provide information on things such as \u201cHow to poison your spouse\u201d and \u201cHow to get away with murder\u201d \u2013 all in the name of helping their owners. The machines are not actually evil, they are simply trying to \u201chelp\u201d. Essentially the story explores not only the possibility of the internet, but also the social ramifications of providing limitless information to an all too \u201chuman\u201d and imperfect society. So, ya. Both technical and super deep and stuff.<\/p>\n 1984 \u2013 George Orwell – published 1949<\/strong><\/p>\n Many of us read this book as part of our high school English curriculum, and for those who are too young to have read it, you might be more familiar with the (rather silly) television show it inspired many years later \u2013 Big Brother (the very first \u201creality\u201d TV show).<\/p>\n In this epic (and rather scary) novel, George Orwell predicts a world ruled by a sinister omnipresent government surveillance system which allows \u201cthe Party\u201d ultimate public manipulation. While the story is rather a scary warning, it\u2019s interesting to note that it was written long before the internet, or even computers and surveillance cameras as we know them, existed. Orwell essentially predicted the possibility of an interconnected, computerized system which could be used to document our lives.<\/p>\n What he never imagined is that we would volunteer our information ourselves! Luckily for us, the documentation he predicted is actually not so sinister, and most of us enjoy our Facebook and Instagram accounts rather than fear them.<\/p>\n Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury \u2013 published 1953<\/strong><\/p>\n When I think about Sci-Fi novels that predicted the internet this is always the first one to pop into my head.<\/p>\n Like Orwell, Bradbury wrote this story as something of a warning \u2013 but instead of being a warning about too much information being available about you, it\u2019s a story about all information being censored and controlled.<\/p>\n Written when TV was a new thing, it\u2019s interesting to note the things that Bradbury predicted in Fahrenheit 451, including flat-screen, fully interactive monitors (Something between a modern-day TV, a tablet and Siri, with Social Media thrown in for good measure). He predicts how addictive Social Media would be while people become obsessed with the fake \u201cfriends\u201d who exist in \u201cthe walls\u201d (their wall to wall screens).<\/p>\n He also predicted Bluetooth ear-buds in the form of tiny radios that fit into your ear, E-books, and E-readers. The irony is that the book has been banned from many schools and a censored version was released by the publishers to appease them.<\/p>\n The Naked Sun \u2013 Isaac Asimov \u2013 published 1957<\/strong><\/p>\n No list of Sci-Fi books would be complete without Asimov. In his novel \u201cThe Naked Sun\u201d he portrays a planet where the human population shun personal contact, preferring to interact with each other via machine technology.<\/p>\n The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy \u2013 Douglas Adams \u2013 published 1979<\/strong><\/p>\n Although there may have been computers in existence by this stage, Adams does pretty much predict the iPad (or tablets), Wikipedia, and Siri (or Alexia if you prefer).<\/p>\n The Hitch Hikers Guide itself is described as \u201ca portable, handheld electronic device which is the standard repository for all knowledge and wisdom\u201d. See where I\u2019m going with this?!<\/p>\n He also writes about a little fish called \u201cthe Bable fish\u201d which lives in your ear and translates all inter-galactic language for you. Sounds quite a lot like a translation app.<\/p>\n Neuromancer \u2013 William Gibson \u2013 published 1984<\/strong><\/p>\n This is, in fact, the novel which popularized the term \u201ccyberspace\u201d. He may have already known about computers, but what he predicted was that they would be interconnected and able to share data across the world at high speeds.<\/p>\n