What the hell is

T Tattoo Tiki Socialite Los Angeles Joined: Sep 24, 2005 Posts: 321	T Tattoo Posted posted on Sat, Oct 23, 2010 6:37 PM Waayyyy back in the 1980's Cyberpunk authors William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a sorta Sci Fi novel "The Difference Engine" that takes place during Victorian times. My memory is a little fuzzy but the idea was: what if the early Babbage calculating machine were a reality and adopted by the Victorian government. Thus an 1850's London run by steam powered "computers". As I recall, the novel was boring but an ingenious concept. Thus critics quickly dubbed the term Steampunk since it was written by Cyberpunk authors. So... take any modern technical innovation and put it in a Victorian setting.

Waayyyy back in the 1980's Cyberpunk authors William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a sorta Sci Fi novel "The Difference Engine" that takes place during Victorian times. My memory is a little fuzzy but the idea was: what if the early Babbage calculating machine were a reality and adopted by the Victorian government. Thus an 1850's London run by steam powered "computers". As I recall, the novel was boring but an ingenious concept. Thus critics quickly dubbed the term Steampunk since it was written by Cyberpunk authors.

So... take any modern technical innovation and put it in a Victorian setting.

Post #561284 by Tattoo on Sat, Oct 23, 2010 6:37 PM