Dana wrote
I think it's an interesting commentary that
one can watch all 52 episodes without being
able to say for sure what they use for books
--I think the typical fanfic solution is to
refer to "book placques" and/or "datacubes."
We know from canon that there are Walkman-
like objects for playing music.
David
In Project Avalon, in addition to Servalan's Walkman thingy, there are
four hand-held devices with key input. The last two devices were used to
calculate teleport co-ordinates. Travis used the second - a basic
graphic of it is below - to punch in data while he looked at the screen
at the lower right of the device, or at the screen on the wall. None of
these could be considered an e-book.
Then there is the device, with dimensions of approx. 20 * 12 * 5
centimetres, which Avon gives to Blake in the following scene
from Project Avalon
Gan: Blake, there are four...five interceptors orbiting the
atmosphere now. They are all below the horizon at the moment.
Blake: Track them.
Gan: Right.
Avon: And don't imagine they will maintain the same orbit.
[holds up device]
I have summarized the relevant data. ... We have come at the
worst time, of course. The northern hemisphere is just entering
its winter cycle. They call it the Long Cold, something of an
understatement, it lasts the equivalent of eight and a half
Earth years.
Blake: Does it support any intelligent life?
Avon: ... There are humanoid creatures called sub-terrons. They
live in caves. Quite what that says for their intelligence, I
really wouldn't know.
Blake: Why are the Federation there?
Avon: Minerals.
[hands object to Blake]
About thirty years ago it was discovered that deposits were
seeping down into the ice
[Blake reads, pushes button, click]
and forming gem stones of outstanding purity
[pushes button three times]
and hardness. They are called 'Ice Crystals'.
[pushes two buttons once each]
The Federation uses them in heavy duty lasers. They are mined
by the sub-terrons as a slave labour force.
[two clicks]
Blake: Ahh, that is why Avalon is here.
Avon: Perhaps, but the ice crystals are unique and ... valuable.
Blake: No, Avalon has started resistance movements on a dozen
Federation planets.
Avon: Another idealist,
[push]
poor but honest. I shall look forward to our meeting with eager
[lowers device] anticipation.
Blake: Is your anticipation eager enough to come down there with me?
David
Blake pushes a button half a dozen times, which action I take to be
scrolling down the written and graphic data, while he reads Avon's
hyper-text summary.
Dana
I assume that there's some equivalent of
movie theaters because of the advantages of
public entertainments (and, from the
government viewpoint, the greater ease of
censoring the prints of a movie in X number
of theaters than self-selected video rentals
or downloads).
David
I know of only one mention of a circus-like spectacle:
from Death-Watch
Del Tarrant: It will be a big occasion.
Avon: A ritual war is bound to generate a great deal of excitement.
Vila: Back on Earth they used to say it was the most excitement you can
have with your clothes on anywhere in the galaxy.
Dayna: How very witty of them.
Avon: No, he is right. The Teal-Vandor Convention was famous on Earth.
The ultimate excitement.
Cally: The ultimate excitement: watching two men kill each other?
David
The women, one from Auron, the other mainly from Sarran, do not show any
interest in the Convention, but the men, who spent a fair amount of
their lives on Earth, know about it.
from Voice from the Past
Cally: We need rest soon.
Vila: Absolutely right. What I wouldn't give for a week at one of the
old Federation Rest Centres: Sensory ecstasy hours, pleasure machines
[sighs].
Cally: You have to accept these findings.
Blake: I accept them but where are we going to find a centre that will
take us in for a month's rest and rehabilitation?
Vila: Well, that shouldn't be a problem. I mean, what is the point of
being famous if you can't get a last minute booking?
David
Vila, officially a low-grade, takes for granted an official policy of
near hedonism and assumes the others know of the Federation Rest
Centres.
Dana
Or is one reason to use suppressants to
eliminate the need for popular entertainment
--even bread and circuses?
David
That sounds likely. Federation policy was unsuccessful in this area:
from Way Back
Blake: Why should the Administration try to drug us?
Ravella: To keep control. They've been stepping up the suppressants
because the number of dissidents is growing.
from Warlord
Avon: Finally, Zondor, latest victim of the Federation's pacification
and control program. The drug is still Pylene-50. The concentration has
been stepped up, however.
David
Since the dosage of the suppressants did not remain constant, the
original dosage was pretty mild (or the latter dosage overdone). The
purpose of the suppressants is perhaps some combination of keeping
control and eliminating over time the need for entertainment.
DC
The Calculator of Travis - Project Avalon
______________________________________________________
| |
|______________________________________________________|
| _ _ _ |
| |_| |_| |_| |
| _ _ _ |
| ______ |_| |_| |_| |
| | | _ _ _ ______________ |
| |______| |_| |_| |_| | | |
| _ _ _ | | |
| |_| |_| |_| |______________| |
|______________________________________________________|
Blake's e-Atlas - Project Avalon
_____________________________________
/ /|
/ / |
/ / |
/____________________________________/ |
| | |
| _____ _____ _____ | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| |_____| |_____| |_____| | |
| | |
| _____ _____ _____ | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| |_____| |_____| |_____| | |
| _______________________________ | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | /
| |_______________________________| | /
| | /
|___________________________________|/