The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[Dr. Drib]

^

Hilarious!

[ownedbycats]

I'm reading a book initially published in the 1990s and re-published by the author a few years back.

The author apparently changed all references of videotapes to DVDs (which were only available in Japan when the book was initially released, so it seems unlikely that this character living in America would have a collection of them) but didn't remove the parts where they had to hang up the phone to connect the internet.

[305869]

I can't complain much since this was fanfiction, but the author used "thee" in place of "thou" and vice versa.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I'm reading a book initially published in the 1990s and re-published by the author a few years back.

The author apparently changed all references of videotapes to DVDs (which were only available in Japan when the book was initially released, so it seems unlikely that this character living in America would have a collection of them) but didn't remove the parts where they had to hang up the phone to connect the internet.

USA had laserdisc from 1979. DVD from 1997 and Video CD from 1993.

The DVD was November 1996 in Japan, March 1997 in USA and 1998 in Europe, but poor availability even in Japan in 1996.

So makes a huge difference if the book was published originally in 1995 or 1998.

Probably should have been left as videotape. VHS and S-VHS machines still on general sale in at least 2007. I didn't replace my VHS with an SVHS till about 2003. My 2002 Laptop was my first DVD player. I got a standalone one that year.

So really anything before 1998 should only have DVD is important to the plot and VHS was still more common than DVD in 2002. Betamax was basically dead by the 1990s, though available up to 2000+.

Strictly videotape is reel to reel, which was rare domestically (1/4" Akai and 1/2" EIAJ) and killed by N1500, N1700 and U-matic even before Betamax and VHS (all videocassette formats).
I only saw the 1/4" Akai colour reel to reel once. BBC bought one out of curiosity. It made super 8mm film look good!

[theducks]

+1 on the author, just leaving it alone rather than miss some things.

Doc Smith had Vacuum tubes and bus bars on his space craft
C J Cherryh had 'wire' (preceded tape)

FWIW Akai was putting B+W TV on 1/4" tape (10" reels running at 30 IPS) in the late 60's as a lab experiment using their GX heads. As an owner of a Akai 10" machine that can do 15IPS, 30 is screamin' fast,

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I'm reading a book initially published in the 1990s and re-published by the author a few years back.

The author apparently changed all references of videotapes to DVDs (which were only available in Japan when the book was initially released, so it seems unlikely that this character living in America would have a collection of them) but didn't remove the parts where they had to hang up the phone to connect the internet.

Should have left alone. So what if it seems dated today? So do most SF novels written at least a couple of decades ago, unless they totally skip anything remotely technical.

C.J. Cherryh was mentioned; those "tapes" in most of her books really grate nowadays. Still, to try to replace the then-current technology with the now-current technology is a bad decision. It will seem dated again 10-20 years from now, and so on... There's nothing to be done, it's just the way it is with technology and books.

Perhaps we should replace horses with cars in all books written before the 20th century...

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by theducks

Doc Smith had Vacuum tubes and bus bars on his space craft
C J Cherryh had 'wire' (preceded tape)

But EE Doc Smith practically invented Space Opera, and I think Skylark was 1928!
Public Voice broadcasting only 7 years old.
You only need one vacuum tube, a transformer and a mechanical windup timer for a microwave oven. It's a funky direct filament 2500V vacuum tube diode with clever bits of metal and a magnet. The "power control" on modern ones simply changes a several seconds on/off duty cycle.
Your main fuse cabinet still has bus bars.

Tapes still exist for backup, but now only LTO and IBM 3592.

SF isn't about predicting the future. Mostly it's entertainment, though may have a message.

When did C J Cherryh write "wire" for tape?
The first tape based magnetic recording was demonstrated in 1934.
I think 1946 was the first portable one using miniature 90V valves and a wind-up motor for play. Hand crank for FF and Rew.
Sony's first transistor portable tape was maybe 1960 and also used a windup motor, though the 1959 portable Grundig Cub had a battery motor.

It's best to not explain technical stuff in SF writing and then it's not jarring to read 30 years later.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Perhaps we should replace horses with cars in all books written before the 20th century...

Yes, updates to technology when republishing/reprinting is mad, no matter if the Famous Five or C.J. Cherryh.

[Dr. Drib]

Someone roll the video tape: I missed the earlier posts.

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Should have left alone. So what if it seems dated today? So do most SF novels written at least a couple of decades ago, unless they totally skip anything remotely technical.

C.J. Cherryh was mentioned; those "tapes" in most of her books really grate nowadays. Still, to try to replace the then-current technology with the now-current technology is a bad decision. It will seem dated again 10-20 years from now, and so on... There's nothing to be done, it's just the way it is with technology and books.

Perhaps we should replace horses with cars in all books written before the 20th century...

I reread some of the CJ Cherryh books I've got recently and quite enjoyed the 'tape' references. It's starting to sound exotic and unusual to my ears as you no longer come across it in day to day conversation. So for me it's wrapping around back to science-fiction-ey.

Andrew

[Sirtel]

Speaking of books that seem dated now, I'm rereading "Lady of Hay" which was written in the 80-s. It's not a SF novel, but it's pretty weird to be reminded what life was like back then (I'm old enough to remember, but still...). Poor characters in the book must go to a library to look up historical persons and events, instead of just googling them; when they forgot to go shopping, they must eat whatever leftovers they have in the fridge, instead of ordering in (in London, not in some remote farm house); and so on. I felt really sorry for them. The toil and trouble of life without internet...

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Speaking of books that seem dated now, I'm rereading "Lady of Hay" which was written in the 80-s. It's not a SF novel, but it's pretty weird to be reminded what life was like back then (I'm old enough to remember, but still...). Poor characters in the book must go to a library to look up historical persons and events, instead of just googling them; when they forgot to go shopping, they must eat whatever leftovers they have in the fridge, instead of ordering in (in London, not in some remote farm house); and so on. I felt really sorry for them. The toil and trouble of life without internet...

I can't remember if it was just in the late 70's or carried on into the early 80's but we used to have a van come down our street selling fresh fish; a big lorry came and sold Corona fizzy soft drinks in returnable bottles; the milkman delivered milk to your doorstep; and a local small supermarket (more a minimarket) would deliver your order in a van. I guess all that died out in the 80's with the rise of supermarkets and private car ownership. And now it's returning. Yay! This was in south west England, where the outskirts of a large town hit the green belt.

Edited to add - not to mention coal delivery. Of course you couldn't order any of these things on the spur of the moment.

Andrew

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

I can't remember if it was just in the late 70's or carried on into the early 80's but we used to have a van come down our street selling fresh fish; a big lorry came and sold Corona fizzy soft drinks in returnable bottles; the milkman delivered milk to your doorstep; and a local small supermarket (more a minimarket) would deliver your order in a van. I guess all that died out in the 80's with the rise of supermarkets and private car ownership. And now it's returning. Yay! This was in south west England, where the outskirts of a large town hit the green belt.

Edited to add - not to mention coal delivery. Of course you couldn't order any of these things on the spur of the moment.

Andrew

In the (cough) 50's and 60's, we used to get Charles Chips' (yup, in that big old can, like so: https://ibspot.com/products/charles-...in?taxon_id=60 ) delivered to the door--potato chips, pretzels, all sorts of goodies like that, along with the usual things--milk and the like. I think that all went the way of the DoDo, along with delivered groceries. I mean...the kind that you used to get from the local grocer, not a supermarket. Sigh.

Hitch

[Renate]

We used to get a man with a station wagon that came around.
In the back was a grinding wheel that slid out and he sharpened knives.
That was the late 60's, early 70's.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

... instead of ordering in ...

I don't believe I've ever ordered food to my door in my life. No, not even pizza.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Renate

I don't believe I've ever ordered food to my door in my life. No, not even pizza.

Well, I hate cooking passionately and I'm lazy, so I've done it often.