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21st century anachronisms
May. 2nd, 2012 12:13 amI was reading a fic and someone stole someone's cell phone to find out what they'd been doing, and started looking through the pictures on it.
Sounds reasonable?
The episodes it's set between are from Feb 1997.
Wiki reckons the first time a phone shared digital pictures was June 1997.
Finding anyone with a pocket full of camera phone, somewhat unlikely.
Even more unlikely, finding anyone who would think to steal a phone for information.
21st century author.
Now I feel old.
Of course it's written as a crossover with another show, and characters from that indicate it's from at least 2000. So maybe it's a different kind of timeline error entirely. But it's just the assumption of ubiquity that threw me.
It's kind of really depressing that Highlander, the whole of it, is all a historical flashback from here.
There were times when its moment in technological history, where databases were going computerised as a new and shiny thing, was kind of key to the plot. So shifting it around the 90s kind of works, but shifting it into the 2000s really doesn't. I mean, if you're in the 90s and are just thinking computers are pretty cool, you might imagine you could put a database on a disc and have it be secure. But with all the hacks and leaks and the ubiquitous instant distribution of information since then, I'm thinking the whole Watcher database idea looks really stupid from here, if you assume they wished to stay a secret society. Big paper books are actually more secure than everyone knowing everything with the press of a button. Funnily enough.
I kind of want to see another season of Highlander written by different people about different Immortals. More global. More of history, bits we haven't seen. Different perspectives. Because it was always about bringing together two clashing value sets (and seeing which one decapitated the other) and there are a lot of value sets yet to be explored. Plus the shifts in values since the first series. Always shiny.
I don't miss it enough to revive my old plot bunnies, rather than studying, but I do miss it.
Sounds reasonable?
The episodes it's set between are from Feb 1997.
Wiki reckons the first time a phone shared digital pictures was June 1997.
Finding anyone with a pocket full of camera phone, somewhat unlikely.
Even more unlikely, finding anyone who would think to steal a phone for information.
21st century author.
Now I feel old.
Of course it's written as a crossover with another show, and characters from that indicate it's from at least 2000. So maybe it's a different kind of timeline error entirely. But it's just the assumption of ubiquity that threw me.
It's kind of really depressing that Highlander, the whole of it, is all a historical flashback from here.
There were times when its moment in technological history, where databases were going computerised as a new and shiny thing, was kind of key to the plot. So shifting it around the 90s kind of works, but shifting it into the 2000s really doesn't. I mean, if you're in the 90s and are just thinking computers are pretty cool, you might imagine you could put a database on a disc and have it be secure. But with all the hacks and leaks and the ubiquitous instant distribution of information since then, I'm thinking the whole Watcher database idea looks really stupid from here, if you assume they wished to stay a secret society. Big paper books are actually more secure than everyone knowing everything with the press of a button. Funnily enough.
I kind of want to see another season of Highlander written by different people about different Immortals. More global. More of history, bits we haven't seen. Different perspectives. Because it was always about bringing together two clashing value sets (and seeing which one decapitated the other) and there are a lot of value sets yet to be explored. Plus the shifts in values since the first series. Always shiny.
I don't miss it enough to revive my old plot bunnies, rather than studying, but I do miss it.