Computer/meta
Notes (2019)[edit]
One of the most changed and most joked about memes or subject topics in Traveller has been its computers. Traveller was literally established in 1977 CE BEFORE the personally computer revolution in the 1990's. Numerous jokes were made in periodicals, fanzines, and other publications about Traveller's gigantic, multi-ton ENIAC-like computers... Traveller's computer projections were wildly contradicted by the reality of several decades later...
As such, it should be stated that Traveller is neither soft nor hard sci-fi. It is both and more to the point, Traveller is simply classic science fiction. It draws from and was inspired by some of the classic greats such as Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, Norton, Smith, and Tubb's Dumarest, while still being flexible enough to absorb cyberware, nanotechnology, and the latest astronomy and cosmology. Traveller's original computers were ENIAC-like, gigantic room-sized contraptions that weighed tons, certainly a far cry from the everyday microelectronics (cell phones, tablets, fit bits, laptops, etc.) of the 2010's CE in the real world. By the mid 1980's Traveller started mixing all of these themes, from classic rockets to the most modern exobiology and handcomps. An important part of Traveller is its sheer ambiguity; Traveller can simply absorb all kinds of themes, tropes, and details within its vast boundaries and welcoming world structure. In other words, in Traveller, the ancient, antiquated, modern, hypothetical, futurist, and cutting edge can all coexist, neatly categorized by TL and probably warned off by an Amber or Red Zone.
- - Maksim-Smelchak (talk) 17:24, 3 July 2019 (EDT)