feyhunde wrote:Question, have we seen anything with the Sharonians using electricity?.
As far as I know, only incandescent lights in one of the early council scenes. No sign of electricity as motive power so far.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 58 guests
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by tonyz » Fri Dec 25, 2015 4:21 pm | |
tonyz
Posts: 144
|
As far as I know, only incandescent lights in one of the early council scenes. No sign of electricity as motive power so far. |
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by phillies » Fri Dec 25, 2015 7:07 pm | |
phillies
Posts: 2077
|
telegraph cable across ocean comes to mind
|
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by Astelon » Sat Dec 26, 2015 8:48 pm | |
Astelon
Posts: 203
|
The problem with Sharona developing any kind of early electronic communications is that they already have something far superior. the Voice talent might be a bit slower (with the need to move voices into range) but it can transmit far more data, providing full audio and visual as well as side channels of emotion. You have to get several decades into radio communications development before you can compete. Few will be willing to spend lots of money for the inferior communications product, and few inventors will keep working on radio or telegraph without some foreseeable use. Therefore development will be slowed.
|
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by n7axw » Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:12 pm | |
n7axw
Posts: 5997
|
You've got a valid point. But there is a problem with this. For all of the advantages the voices offer, the potential is mature and it is limited to that percentage of the population that has that talent. As technology progresses and its use becomes more and more widespread, the demand for data exchange becomes greater and greater and more universal and wireless communication is the most efficient way of meeting that demand. The sheer volume would soon swamp the voices and be an impediment to both commercial and technological advancement. I see Sharona as being on the verge of the sort of industrial expansion the would expand into the need for information age technology, if not immediately, then eventually. I suspect that the war and its rendency to pressurize research will accelerate all of this. They are going to need radio and the tech that flows from its development. Don - When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
|
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by phillies » Sun Dec 27, 2015 3:23 pm | |
phillies
Posts: 2077
|
Wireless, at the front end, is grossly expensive and inefficient. Wire communication is far more effective. In particular, telegraphy across the wider oceans would be advantageous.
|
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by n7axw » Mon Dec 28, 2015 11:52 am | |
n7axw
Posts: 5997
|
Not by the time someone pays for all that wire, athough there are arguments both ways... Don - When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
|
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by Keith_w » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:26 pm | |
Keith_w
Posts: 976
|
Did anyone else think it was kind of short compared to the other two?
--
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. |
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by n7axw » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:54 pm | |
n7axw
Posts: 5997
|
You know, Philies, I've been thinking about this subject sinse my post and have come to the conclusion that you are mostly right. Technologically, both sides are close to a century away from being able to sustain the sort of wireless networks that I was envisioning Which would include a support network of satelites, sophisticated computers, relays, etc. that would be beyond Sharona's reach for a long time. Wired networks would be expensive to build and maintain, but would be something they can do now, or at least in the near term future. Like the voices, they would eventually be overwhelmed with the data flow. But at the moment, the problem wouldn't be that severe and by the time it did get that severe, more sophisticated tech would be available to help deal with the problem...eventually leading to the sorts of systems I was envisioning. Don - When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
|
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by feyhunde » Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:02 pm | |
feyhunde
Posts: 144
|
In our context, its sufficient for the wired networks to follow the train tracks. (and incandescent lights don't guarantee they have AC current). Voices have limits despite their advantages. They can have a great range, transmit an entire sensory load in real time, and have perfect recall. But you need to be a voice or have access to rare projectives to hear the message. And most people aren't voices. So there seems to still be a need for signaling. Maybe a large ship at sea has a voice. Or its common enough so a train having hundreds of passengers may have one. But the brakemen and engineers are probably not both voices. Now there's a bunch of ways we've figured out signaling, despite everything now either being a wired or wireless electrical signal. We used to use bells on strings, air pressure, lighting schemes, semaphore signals, etc. Using the voicenet to route trains is quite possible, but seems off for big crowded routes. |
Top |
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell | |
---|---|
by PeterZ » Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:07 pm | |
PeterZ
Posts: 6432
|
If i understand correctly, magic is the channeling of extra dimensional forces into the physical universe to induce an effect that could not manifest absent the intrusion of magic. Magical forces can counter gravity and inertia to enable flight, levitation and all manner of other phenomena. Arcanans have already created a power net on their more developed universes. Why haven't they developed some version of a telegraph? Hummers can carry more info than a telegraph, sure. But improving transmission rates would be a matter spellware development.
We know that large amounts of data are transferred between PCs. Why can't that data be transferred over any distance beyond the reach of an individual? Personally, I believe the reason is that the Arcanans never had the need to create that sort of exception to the natural laws. Since magic is the structuring of extra dimensional forces to cause an effect that is inconsistent with natural laws, Arcanan development is the art of combining the forces to generate the desired results. The magister envisions the effect then tries to combine the forces to make the effect happen. Sharonan development on the other hand seeks to understand what the physical laws allow then engineer solutions that are within what is allowed. I wonder if having the Voices as an example will spur some magister to find a way to transfer data at some larger distance than has been possible? Same with Sharona regarding electricity. That is another source of power they can control much like magical energy. |
Top |