Clarke no doubt deserves credit for prescience in some areas, but my recent listening of Earthlight (a long commute calls for books on tape) left me wondering about his general powers of foresight. Notwithstanding colonies on the Moon, Venus, Mars, and elsewhere, Clarke had people communicating via (*gulp*) snailmail! Oh, sure, he admitted the existence of telewriting--but this operated like automatic telegraphy: "New Nova in Draconis. Moon first to Observe." But for routine and personal communications, pen and paper (really!) continued to rule in Clarke's future.
>Arthur's timescale for nano is rather conservative, but it worries me more
>(as I've said before) that he continues to places credence in `cold fusion'
>(even giving Pons and Fleischman a Nobel in a few years). Or does he, after
>all, know something we don't...?
>
>Damien Broderick