leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (01/22/86)
There has been some discussion among my friends as to when RED OCTOBER takes place. In fact, there are indications in the book that it is the future, facts about the President that do not fit any current or past President. Since December 3 falls on a Friday, the only year left this century that will happen is 1993. One rather suspects that the technology will be out of date by then. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
jhs@druhi.UUCP (ShoreJ) (02/06/86)
> There has been some discussion among my friends as to when RED > OCTOBER takes place. In fact, there are indications in the > book that it is in the future, .... One rather suspects that the > technology will be out of date by then. > > Mark Leeper > ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper One would also rather suspect, Mark, that H.G. Wells' equipment might very well be out of date, too! And I'd bet that most of the equipment used in WW II is out of date as well, which doesn't invalidate stories out of that era either. Etc., etc., .... Regarding the technology issue itself, most U.S. and U.K. equipment will still be around and in active operation in '93, which *is* only 7 years away, after all. I rode the boats from '66 to '72, and, with the normal exception of additions due to new technology and the usual phasing-out of obsolescent gear, most of it still exists in the fleet today. I can't speak to the Soviet equipment issue, but I suspect it is much the same. (I'd love to see a Red October-type drive system!) -- Jeff Shore ..!ihnp4!drutx!druhi!jhs
jhs@druhi.UUCP (ShoreJ) (02/06/86)
After posting my previous reply, I realized that my statement about Wells might be misleading. Yes, I recognize Wells' futuristic technology was based on late 19th century state-of-the-art developments and on his own wonderfully fertile imagination, and I did not mean to imply (to the naifs of the world that) the equipment really existed... ...except for the cannon used in "From the Earth to the Moon" which, after being recovered from a minor despot in the Lesser Antilles, was placed on display in a place of honor at the British Museum in 1937. As a point of reference, the concepts described in that book serve as the underpinnings of the so-called "Star Wars" system now being developed at Punxatawny, PA.
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (02/11/86)
>> There has been some discussion among my friends as to when RED >> OCTOBER takes place. In fact, there are indications in the >> book that it is in the future, .... One rather suspects that the >> technology will be out of date by then. >> >> Mark Leeper >> ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper > >One would also rather suspect, Mark, that H.G. Wells' equipment >might very well be out of date, too! And I'd bet that most of >the equipment used in WW II is out of date as well, which doesn't >invalidate stories out of that era either. Etc., etc., .... What does it mean to invalidate a story? I was just saying that Clancy seems to put in contradictory information so that it is impossible for the story to take place in any given year. It still is a good story. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper