• more about #technobabble
    Paul_Is_Drunk: It's a good point, and part of the reason I don't like TNG. Well, okay, it's more like the fans taking this filler technobabble and pretending it wa... more »
    Anekanta - Go Play!: Well, I can see where he's coming from, but it's kind of a pointless thing to say. So, Star Trek TNG was often like a soap opera in space. Babylon 5... more »
    The Curse of Millhaven: So, were these science advisers just a bunch of fans or something? It seems like they would just throw in words like reverse, override, transfer plasm... more »
    Demosthenes7898: I can see his point, but the over-generalization is unnecessary. The outline of the TNG script shows his disdain goes further than simple technobabbl... more »
    icy_one: One of my favorite TNG episodes is the one where Picard gets probed (bow chicka wow wow) by an alien satellite that causes him to live an entire life ... more »
    disatess: I thought science fiction was just that, Science fiction. Where people discover /invent new tech or new ideas to either save mankind or send them i... more »
    doodlehead: LAFORGE: One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treadle. PICARD: Pardon? LAFORGE: One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treadle. PICARD: I don't unde... more »
    Kingdaddy8: I'm in the same mold as lazlopink, a 47 year old guy who has been reading SF all his life. And I'm in the mold of Charlie Stross, someone who's pretty... more »
    Byronotron: wow, if you read this thread one might come to the conclusion that sci-fi is ONE thing. When has that EVER been the case, sci fi takes all forms, come... more »
    HalOfBorg: I used to know a lady online who pretty much HATED Star Trek. She loved SciFi (or SF as she insisted), but the very idea of the transporter would just... more »
    HyMinded: Don't let facts get in the way of a good story. more »
    HalOfBorg: So - in order to get to the human interest part of the story, we should spend lots of time getting all the little details of the science perfect? Isn... more »
    ignoramus012: I agree to an extent-- which I don't particularly like the terms science fiction, or fantasy. I prefer "speculative fiction" because just because a mo... more »
    Bill-Lee: Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dr. Who, and Battlestar Galactica are space operas! Space opera has always used technology as an exotic backdrop for stories of ... more »
    Rumtum: omfg. This feller surely don't get it, do he? I mean, the worst video sciffy is the stuff that does what he thinks is ideal. If course Trek just uses ... more »
    goldfarb: 1 - please don't use that book cover anymore - it's TERRIBLE, here is a better one for that same book - [ecx.images-amazon.com] 2 - please don't use t... more »
    DrMathochist: This is far from restricted to sci-fi television. It's why I stopped reading almost all science fiction in print either. "Tech" and "Magic" are pulp... more »
    burlybax: There seems to be a lot of discussion on sci-fi itself going on here on io9 the last few days. I think the PKD letter combined with Mr. Stross' words ... more »
    Platypus Man: I'm pretty sure that that was exactly what the Star Trek people were going for. Apply current-day situations in a future setting. If they had paid a t... more »
    lazlopink: I don't mind Stross's work but I think he's suffering from a failure of observation. He is demanding that the characters be transformed somehow by the... more »
  • #technobabble

    Why Charles Stross Hates Scifi Television's Technogibberish

    Science fiction author Charles Stross hates Star Trek. He also hates Babylon 5 and can't be bothered with Doctor Who. Why? Because in so much science fiction television, the technology portrayed is so often irrelevant to the story being told. More »
  • #fridayfun

    Spot the Scifi Cliche! A Drinking Game