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_David's Sling_, Marc Stiegler.
Not as famous as Vernor Vinge in the "computer scientist writes SF" camp, but he's not as good, either. This is an early effort, and it could serve as an example of why trying to predict the near-term future is a Bad Idea. Though no date is actually set, one could reasonably infer a late-1990s, early 2000s timeframe. Failing to predict the fall fo the USSR is standard; failing to predict Microsoft is understandable; failing to think about orbital mechanics with respect to Thor-style orbital crowbars is also standard. Predicting the rise of BBS-style timeshare systems instead of the Internet... well, it's all in an alternate history, now. To be fair, lots of good ideas, and Stiegler got better.
Not as famous as Vernor Vinge in the "computer scientist writes SF" camp, but he's not as good, either. This is an early effort, and it could serve as an example of why trying to predict the near-term future is a Bad Idea. Though no date is actually set, one could reasonably infer a late-1990s, early 2000s timeframe. Failing to predict the fall fo the USSR is standard; failing to predict Microsoft is understandable; failing to think about orbital mechanics with respect to Thor-style orbital crowbars is also standard. Predicting the rise of BBS-style timeshare systems instead of the Internet... well, it's all in an alternate history, now. To be fair, lots of good ideas, and Stiegler got better.
