You Have Been Warned (ebook reader/tablet in "2012" movie)

[zacheryjensen]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

It always baffles me how TV and movie producers/writers surely use computers-- but have no clue about they are used and about the interfaces. For instance, ever since The Matrix, everyone is convinced that computer programmers are perfectly comfortable to read their code as multiple vertical lines of text constantly raining down their monitors.

Just to toss a monkey wrench in your story, I am a software engineer and regularly work on multi-application choreographies and protocols and my preferred way to visualize a full deployment is my development environment split 6 ways, each section showing the log out put for each piece of the system, scrolling by relatively quickly. The important thing is that errors are colored red, and also I've seen the same text so much that important bits just stand out regardless. It's kinda like the screens on the matrix though less data coming by at once. But hey, I'm not desperately trying to hack a huge computer network of evil robots or whatever.

Though unlike the matrix I can hit one button and "pause" everything if something really interesting comes up

What you see in the matrix isn't that far off. For one, they are viewing symbols which could mean anything, it's not just text. Also depending on the type of programming you do, you may be very accustomed to seeing data in matrix form (such as hex editors) though generally not moving.

If you visualize a small virtual machine it's easiest to represent it as a grid of states, and over time you learn what it means when certain points on the grid are set to certain characters/colors/blinking/etc. The matrix data display could be a flowing display of relevant state changes in different parts of the system. Though I imagine they would use more colors than just green.

So though the animation is a bit flashy, what's shown on the Matrix isn't quite as far fetched as some other shows. (I agree with your general sentiment though.) Also it's worth mentioning that in the second Matrix movie there is a scene where they hack into a computer in one of the big buildings and the screen on display has a real hack in use for exploiting openssh insecurities. It was still relatively effective at the time of the movie's release.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by SolRaven

I just got back from seeing 2012 and took note of that reader as well. What surprised me more is that there wasn't a real Sony Reader in the movie based on a few statements made by the character Dr. Adrian Helmsley.

Maybe the scenes with the readers were cut out and might show up on the dvd as extras. I wasn't excited about the movie at all, but now I'm considering watching it just to see this ebook reader!

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

this is great!

[MichaelMSeattle]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Maybe the scenes with the readers were cut out and might show up on the dvd as extras. I wasn't excited about the movie at all, but now I'm considering watching it just to see this ebook reader!

The reader was nice, but it was really more like a tablet (no electronic ink, smooth touch controls, etc.)
If you're going to see 2012, see it for the sheer popcorn fun of the ultimate disaster movie. You can safely enjoy watching California slide into the ocean, or the eruption of the Yosemite supervolcano (complete with fireballs and pyroclastic flow), or the unearthly destruction of Vegas, or the tsunami hitting D.C., or the...

[charleski]

Given all the promotional barrage Londoners have had to endure for the 2012 Olympics, it's amusing to see lots of posters asking: '2012, Who will survive?'

Good question...