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Comment by Kapura | Hacker News Reader

Given that the Zuckerverse has been a bust, and the motorola razr has now been replaced with the ubiquitous touchscreen-slab smartphone, I find it difficult to believe that either of these were inevitable, even as an intermediate step towards the next thing.

But I think the author's main point isn't to point out that these things come from science fiction (these points are obvious). The point is that science fiction is _fiction_, and devoting huge amounts of real-world resources to build a fantasy isn't going great for solving the actual, real-world problems we face.

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Not convinced of the point that these inventions "come from science fiction", sci-fi popularizes and speculates about the future of current science and technology, it doesn't invent the science and technology. Cell phones have existed in experimental forms since the 1940s[0] so they certainly weren't invented by Gene Roddenberry, he just speculated that they would become smaller and more powerful.

Likewise, Stephenson was riffing on the existing technologies of the internet and VR[1][2] by performing the simple trick of asking what happens when these technologies get better, smaller, cheaper and more widely available. Honestly, the speculative part of scifi is the easy part. The credit due these artists is in their fantastic story telling abilities and their world building around the what ifs. They shouldn't get the credit for inventing the technology itself since it a) already existed and b) the notion of it getting better over time is fairly universal and not driven solely by their visions.

[0] https://www.openculture.com/2023/01/bell-telephone-launched-...

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qe4suqGZmU

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfHMSqQKg6s

> Not convinced of the point that these inventions "come from science fiction", sci-fi popularizes and speculates about the future of current science and technology, it doesn't invent the science and technology. Cell phones have existed in experimental forms since the 1940s[0] so they certainly weren't invented by Gene Roddenberry, he just speculated that they would become smaller and more powerful.

To amplify your point: it's worth noting that the Star Trek communicator was depicted as a compact, extremely long range two-way radio. Cell phones only vaguely resemble them. So even less credit is due to sci-fi.

I think it's also the case that multiple concepts end up manifesting in ways that we can't envision or simply don't consider (see Marshall McLuhan). For example, this was also science fiction, but is probably much more relevant than a two-way radio when considering how we use our mobile devices, even if the form factor is far closer to a tricorder: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex

> The point is that science fiction is _fiction_, and devoting huge amounts of real-world resources to build a fantasy isn't going great for solving the actual, real-world problems we face.

Science fiction is a great sales tool. We can wrap solutions for actual problems we have in a shiny spacesuit to make them more palatable to investors and the general public, knowing that delivering the shiny products would have solved a number of real pressing problems.

Zuck's Metaverse may not be solving a problem you face, but it is solving one for Zuck (trying to, anyways) - controlling a distribution platform where potential competitors like Apple or Google cannot dictate terms. SpaceX and Starlink are solving plenty of real-world problems even if "get to Mars" is the long-term vision (and one I'm frankly thankful for, as little as I like Musk). LLMs are clearly a distinct phase in AI evolution, even if it's too early to talk of AGI - real-world applicability here is a bit more tenuous, but I certainly wouldn't throw it in the same bucket as, say, crypto. I think this idea that these explorations at the edge are a waste is a form of Luddism. Countless innovations that _do_ benefit humanity (including allowing us to have this conversation) have sprung out of them.

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