What happens when technology isn't invented in the past

Watching the B5 episode "The Illusion of Truth," (which is simultaneously a blast and an example of JMS's complete lack of familiarity with subtlety in any way, shape, or form), the characters at the end are attempting to catch the news broadcast in time.

shadesong asked, "don't they have space-Tivo?"

And, of course, that seems obvious now. But Tivo didn't exist when the series was written, so naturally, a future version of Tivo wasn't even considered.

The same problem, of course, applies to so many things -- watch 90% of the visions of the future created pre-Internet (or at least pre-Web). Things like e-readers or cell phones (which cropped up often enough in some prototypical form often enough) are generally the exception, as ubiquitous technologies go.

But man, I can't imagine living in the future without my space-Tivo. Or why JMS didn't at least give his characters access to a space-VCR or space-Betamax.

What happens when technology isn't invented in the past

Watching the B5 episode "The Illusion of Truth," (which is simultaneously a blast and an example of JMS's complete lack of familiarity with subtlety in any way, shape, or form), the characters at the end are attempting to catch the news broadcast in time.

shadesong asked, "don't they have space-Tivo?"

And, of course, that seems obvious now. But Tivo didn't exist when the series was written, so naturally, a future version of Tivo wasn't even considered.

The same problem, of course, applies to so many things -- watch 90% of the visions of the future created pre-Internet (or at least pre-Web). Things like e-readers or cell phones (which cropped up often enough in some prototypical form often enough) are generally the exception, as ubiquitous technologies go.

But man, I can't imagine living in the future without my space-Tivo. Or why JMS didn't at least give his characters access to a space-VCR or space-Betamax.