Personally, I like keeping technology to a minimum in my humble apartment. I deal with it all day. Why do I need to have that computerised toaster that I can check my emial with?
Is that because a computerized toaster...
A. adds no value to the job of making toast
B. becomes less reliable than Grandma's toaster
C. reminds you too much of work
Or possibly all of the above? I have to agree with you, nothing irritates me more than having tech problems at home after fixing them for other people all-the-live-long-day at work.
I'm not parting with Grandma's toaster because it makes perfect toast every time, and I don't even want to think about email until after the toast and coffee consumption is complete.
It sort of takes all the fun out of it if you just characterize all the technology as devices to support the plot of the story. Poor Frank Herbert, can you imagine what a mess he had on his hands as the stories progressed trying to maintain the consistency of the technology?
I think the Holzmann field in particular is used mainly as a plot-enabler, since many of its characteristics are the underlying cause of the way things are in Dune. The knife-fighting is a good example...how else could it be justified? On the other hand, it seems incomprehensible to me that anyone would live in a world where anyone with a laser pointer could blow up a (shielded) government building or VIP with the force of an atomic bomb! But without it there is no interstellar space travel, knife fighting, floating glow globes or flying Harkonnens!
I do like the idea of wing-flapping ornithopters for the same reason that I like the knife fighting...it brings back the element of skill to flying. Probably just another plot device though.
Overall I think the technology is much more interesting than Star Trek's transporter, another blatant plot device.
At least they weren't doing the Lynch-ian gun-pointing and saying "AAaahdd-CHAK" and having large explosions suddenly happen, though. The lameness of that alone exceeds this entire series.
Amen. I never understood how Lynch came up with that bit of crap. It stands out in my mind as one of the worse plot devices (sic) ever put on film.
I remember looking forward to the Lynch film, even thinking the terminology sheets were a cool idea, until I actually watched the movie. Though it's been years I am still haunted by visions of the noble Fremen riding sandworms into battle which screaming into their wrists..., Alia spinning in slow motion among the carnage of the battlefield....and the word REMEMBER. There were some cool parts fo the movie for sure, but for me it was ruined by the un-cool parts. The miniseries, though limited in scope was much more faithful to the book. My only real gripe is that it came off as somewhat lackluster at crucial plot milestones and did not build to a sufficient dramatic crescendo at the end. The Lynch version had trouble at the end as well, and I wonder if the scope is simply too big for film. Any number of TV series manage to keep people on the edges of their seats at least once during a season, so I had expected better of Dune in this respect.
Paul used the family atomics to blow the Shield Wall and attack from an unexpected direction, also allowing the worms to approach much closer than would otherwise be possible, since all of the towns on Arrakis were built in areas the worms could not come for protection. All of the royal houses had a cache of atomic (nuclear) weapons but were forbidden to use them by treaty with the Guild, the Emperor, and the other houses of the Landsraad (coucil of royal houses). Any house using atomics faced the combined retalliation of all the other houses, the Emperor, and loss of their space travel and trade opportunities with the Guild. So, by using the atomics Paul was taking an almost unprecedented step. Of course Paul effectively held the source of all spice as a hostage against retalliation, so he had little to worry about as long as he prevailed.
The book is well worth a read as it contains many other beautiful complexities.
It's not so much about subtle technology or post-technology, just that in this far future world many of these technologies have matured to the point where they are seamlessly integrated into everyday life. This happens to all technologies that prove to be sufficiently useful and reliable, like light bulbs, wheels, and running water. Though it was not depicted as such in the mini-series, the glowglobe from the books is a lighting device that is floated on suspensors and can be tuned to any color to provide appropriate lighting or ambiance for any purpose. To us, it's an anti-gravity light bulb with an independent power source that is extremely customizeable. To Paul and Leto, it's just a lamp. It could be argued that "geeks" are in essence people who are attracted to novelty, with an aptitude for learning and a tolerance for unreliability that effectively separates them from the non-technical types. Once the high-tech becomes the everyday, they lose interest. Geeks use light bulbs, of course, they just don't find them very interesting. The fact that at least some geeks like Dune is something I find very encouraging.
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Personally, I like keeping technology to a minimum in my humble apartment. I deal with it all day. Why do I need to have that computerised toaster that I can check my emial with?
Is that because a computerized toaster...
A. adds no value to the job of making toast
B. becomes less reliable than Grandma's toaster
C. reminds you too much of work
Or possibly all of the above? I have to agree with you, nothing irritates me more than having tech problems at home after fixing them for other people all-the-live-long-day at work.
I'm not parting with Grandma's toaster because it makes perfect toast every time, and I don't even want to think about email until after the toast and coffee consumption is complete.
It sort of takes all the fun out of it if you just characterize all the technology as devices to support the plot of the story. Poor Frank Herbert, can you imagine what a mess he had on his hands as the stories progressed trying to maintain the consistency of the technology?
I think the Holzmann field in particular is used mainly as a plot-enabler, since many of its characteristics are the underlying cause of the way things are in Dune. The knife-fighting is a good example...how else could it be justified? On the other hand, it seems incomprehensible to me that anyone would live in a world where anyone with a laser pointer could blow up a (shielded) government building or VIP with the force of an atomic bomb! But without it there is no interstellar space travel, knife fighting, floating glow globes or flying Harkonnens!
I do like the idea of wing-flapping ornithopters for the same reason that I like the knife fighting...it brings back the element of skill to flying. Probably just another plot device though.
Overall I think the technology is much more interesting than Star Trek's transporter, another blatant plot device.
At least they weren't doing the Lynch-ian gun-pointing and saying "AAaahdd-CHAK" and having large explosions suddenly happen, though. The lameness of that alone exceeds this entire series.
Amen. I never understood how Lynch came up with that bit of crap. It stands out in my mind as one of the worse plot devices (sic) ever put on film.
I remember looking forward to the Lynch film, even thinking the terminology sheets were a cool idea, until I actually watched the movie. Though it's been years I am still haunted by visions of the noble Fremen riding sandworms into battle which screaming into their wrists..., Alia spinning in slow motion among the carnage of the battlefield....and the word REMEMBER. There were some cool parts fo the movie for sure, but for me it was ruined by the un-cool parts. The miniseries, though limited in scope was much more faithful to the book. My only real gripe is that it came off as somewhat lackluster at crucial plot milestones and did not build to a sufficient dramatic crescendo at the end. The Lynch version had trouble at the end as well, and I wonder if the scope is simply too big for film. Any number of TV series manage to keep people on the edges of their seats at least once during a season, so I had expected better of Dune in this respect.
Paul used the family atomics to blow the Shield Wall and attack from an unexpected direction, also allowing the worms to approach much closer than would otherwise be possible, since all of the towns on Arrakis were built in areas the worms could not come for protection. All of the royal houses had a cache of atomic (nuclear) weapons but were forbidden to use them by treaty with the Guild, the Emperor, and the other houses of the Landsraad (coucil of royal houses). Any house using atomics faced the combined retalliation of all the other houses, the Emperor, and loss of their space travel and trade opportunities with the Guild. So, by using the atomics Paul was taking an almost unprecedented step. Of course Paul effectively held the source of all spice as a hostage against retalliation, so he had little to worry about as long as he prevailed. The book is well worth a read as it contains many other beautiful complexities.
It's not so much about subtle technology or post-technology, just that in this far future world many of these technologies have matured to the point where they are seamlessly integrated into everyday life. This happens to all technologies that prove to be sufficiently useful and reliable, like light bulbs, wheels, and running water. Though it was not depicted as such in the mini-series, the glowglobe from the books is a lighting device that is floated on suspensors and can be tuned to any color to provide appropriate lighting or ambiance for any purpose. To us, it's an anti-gravity light bulb with an independent power source that is extremely customizeable. To Paul and Leto, it's just a lamp. It could be argued that "geeks" are in essence people who are attracted to novelty, with an aptitude for learning and a tolerance for unreliability that effectively separates them from the non-technical types. Once the high-tech becomes the everyday, they lose interest. Geeks use light bulbs, of course, they just don't find them very interesting. The fact that at least some geeks like Dune is something I find very encouraging.