unforum

[Tiny]

Leaking pen, at the moment we use photo's for soo many things. Driver's Liscence, Passports, Security Id tags. For photo's to become irrelavant in our society we would need the 25 plus years to create a technology that could be so versatile in replacing photos, but also a much longer time for the governements of the world to first accept this technology as a viable change and then a much longer period for them to actually act on that change.
Just taking the Us for example...
So say it takes 25 years to invent the tech, then another 5 years for it to propagate so much that Congress notices it and writes a bill to change the way our driver's license's are given out and manufactured. That would most likely take another 5 years to get it agreed upon by both houses and passed. The phasing out of Photo Id's would then take another 5 to 10 years to be completely wiped out of every day life. Then say she was just being born by the time they were finally gotten rid of, thats another 20 years. That is still about 75 years ahead of us, or 70 if those numbers a bit high. With computer power and other technology advancing the way it does today, almost doubling itself every 18 months, in even 50 years the divides in our society could be quite possibly huge!
Tj-

[<PSH>]

holographic projection would obsolete photgraphs to the point that goverments would change IDings systems and would make photographs seem trivial and lifeless. cartoons might then be preferable to photos for 2D depictions since cartoons can show movement/action/expresion in ways that still photgraphy can't.

[Tiny]

We still have nothing but ideas and dreams on that type of technology yet. At least, that type of technolgy that is so minuscule it could be carried around in a wallet or something.
Tj-

[InspJJ]

I agree it is a bit hokey to go back to drawings - our motivation would be to move on, if they have keys of the sort of sophistication we are speccing then you'd think they would have something along the suggested lines i.e. holographs rather than pen and ink.

Also has anyone de-stegged the leaves yet???

[dead weight]

Plus they must still have the technology in common use, unless the live feeds from the keys are drawings too. Not to mention they've gone to great lengths to approach us on our level (ie the slang, the paper) except for this one area. Still fishy at best to me.

[PuzzledPineapple]

I can't help but keep coming back to this, from the advertising page on the Sentinel:

[Violet]

I'm not sure I agree they're entirely non-human, remember the emails between the girls at the Academy about what amazing shoes we have on Earth? It just kinda suggests to me that they're v similar to us.

Also, the bit that keeps getting to me is that they refer to themselves as from a different 'world' - not planet or reality, and I'm not sure a different city within this world has been mentioned. I get a kind of Atlantis-style Lost City vibe, though where abouts in physical relation to us I couldn't even hazard a guess!

[Demontague]

[tanner]

[Violet]

Hey, if they'd got that many eyes you'd think they'd have kept at least one of them on the Cube in the first place!

[leakingpen]

no no. keys make id photos unnecesary, she said that. for other things, why does something thats hand made automattically sell for more than a superior product that was manufactured? why has there been a recent upswing in the number of people getting portratis and charactures done of themselves/significant other instead of photos. photos are commonplace. the drawings require someone with talent who interprets, not just shows. therefore, its more valuable.

[chrome_halo]

pictures

[<PSH>]

scarlet said they don't need photographs for id's there "keys/ids" probably have either a video clip or a 3d holograpic images. what i was saying above is that in any case where money is spent on realisim either a hollogram or video footage is used. in cases like newspapers which are disposable and they aren't going to build the electronics in for either video or hologram your stuck with still 2d pictures but still photographs my look old and poor so it's become trendy to use cartoons since there just as cheesy but can be more expressive.

[Violet]

[Sep7imus]

(Oh god, I'm getting sucked in...)

It seems to me that replacing photographs with drawings/paintings/whatever indicates not only advanced technology but also an interesting set of cultural values. Specifically, aside from IDs and stuff, they don't seem to value realism the way we do. In a world where things like people's emotions are even available to objective representaiton, it sort of makes sense for them to de-value the (quasi)objective technology of photography in favor something more suggestive and expressionist.

(Of course, this might also make them not very good at solving mysteries like who stole thier cube...)