Sciencefiction als laboratorium

Microsoft, Google, Apple and other firms have sponsored lecture series in which science fiction writers give talks to employees and then meet privately with developers and research departments. Perhaps nothing better demonstrates the close tie between science fiction and technology today than what is called “design fiction”—imaginative works commissioned by tech companies to model new ideas. Some corporations hire authors to create what-if stories about potentially marketable products.

'How America’s Leading Science Fiction Authors Are Shaping Your Future' door Eilleen Gunn. Een fijn overzichtsartikel over de hedendaagse rol van sciencefiction met veel interessante uitspraken van bijna alle grote levende schrijvers. Die Hieroglyph: Stories and Blueprints for a Better Future bundel die later dit jaar uitkomt moet in de gaten worden gehouden.