The works of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are special for that lines (imho), as often there is no tech shown involved, thought just a mistery of it, as in "Roadside Picnic" or as in "Hard to be God" where it starts like this:
Even the word "stalker" has changed its meaning, today (in the book or in the first movie it was someone's job, whose had quite a spare dinner -and a 2 liters of wine-, and would have going searching manufacts to sell into the contaminated zone.