How much computer lingo or babble is important in a story?

[dale coba]

Think about the history of desirable qualities in cars.

Initially, luxury is anything that runs without blowing up. Next, affordable without huge cost. (Model T). Later, running the car goes from a technical and physical burden, towards the roadsters which bring in materials like wood and chrome, design takes over. New car tech parts continue to be sexy, but they all become unsexy over time (power steering, oooh!); and many people drive fast or feel stylish without ever wanting to think about the moving parts of their cars.

It's all about what signifiers will be appreciated by readers, and often pointing to the tech is a way to discuss handling, speed, that the car could really be absolutely yours - desirability qualities.

Humaniform replicators in Stargate were made of much larger than nano-sized pieces. I'm glad to have stories with some limited nanobot powers, call them microbots. Otherwise, to get the non-violent, non-traumatic human-to-fembot transformations, I'd have to try and accept magic (errrgh).

- Dale Coba

[smalk]

My main problem with the use of nano-tecnology in the stories is that it is usually described very vaguely. I can understand the lack of knowledge or interest in this research field; the problem is that it is a field. Saying that a woman is being converted to a robot using nano-tecnology, it's like saying to me that a car is been built using engineering, or that a web-site is been developed using informatics.

I have no problem to admit that I have an high threshold for my suspension of disbelief. It means that you, author, should explain to me, reader, all the potentiality and the limits of the fantastic technology (it's called sci-fi, you know xD) you're introducing into your stories. If you miss that, I'm going to be suspicious, doubtful = not aroused.

Do you want to use nanites? Just explain to me the social implications of the nano-technology (grey goo? sintesized food? nano-spy-bot implanted by the government in the eyes of all the citizens to monitor their activities?) and I'll follow you.

btw: if you were to convert a woman to a robot, it would be much more efficient and stable to use the nanites to scan the flesh and the brain cells, and having a chamber where other nanites build an metal version of that body, uploading the necessary informations into the data banks. If you're more aroused from an in-place convertion it's ok, just don't say it would be easier or cheaper.

[daphne]

It'd be nice if more of it wasn't 'babble' but rather actual executable code, I'll admit.

Console.WriteLine("Oh my god, you coded me in C-sharp? What were you thinking?");

[darkbutflashy]

It'd be nice if more of it wasn't 'babble' but rather actual executable code, I'll admit.

Nice, but 6502, 6809 or Z80 machine code on screens is a reminescense executed sometimes already.

[Windblade]

I absolutely love technobabble (especially software-related)! But sometimes I get carried away and write really big scenes with a lot of it. For example: there is a scene in my Kamen Rider Ex-Aid fanfic where two characters are discussing Spectre and Meltdown (transient execution CPU vulnerabilities) And...readers liked it, lol.

(I promise that I won't use too much technobabble in my stories about androids )



> Console.WriteLine

Oh, I love C#