J.D. Robb discussion

Wrist units, cars that fly, AutoChefs, holo-rooms, airboards, PPCs, VR goggles, etc. The gadgets of the In Death world are practically characters of their own! But what exactly are they, and how do they work? Will I be able to HAVE an AutoChef in the future, or is it too good to be true? What is your favorite Gadget in Death?

How about one of those "evil" vending machines that Eve fights with so often? She just knows there's a conspiracy among them...AGAINST HER....lol

Not necessarily a gadget but is anyone curious what a tube of Pepsi looks like? I think I'd pass on the "soy dogs!"

I'm the auto chef girl...no cooking for me! Can I have one now?

Oh me too Jonetta...I work full-time and it sure would be nice to come home and punch a button, then be able to spend the 2 hours I usually spend cooking and then cleaning it up....with my kids!

I AM curious about the tubes of Pepsi... I guess I picture them sorta like ... THIS, except a bit more durable, maybe? I guess they're more recyclable? Easier to open one-handed?

Horrors, Sara! Don't you know that Minute Maid is made by Coke??!!!

In answer to the autochef comments you made over in the "Peabody" topic...it makes me recall the Tom Lehrer song:

Our old mess sergeant's tastebuds had been shot off in the war,
But his culinary magic leads to our esprit de corps.
To think of all the marvelous ways
They're using plastics nowadays
It makes a fella proud to be a soldier!

I don't drink a lot of soda, but the only Pepsi product I like is Sierra Mist, and I pretty much only drink that on airplanes. They don't even have a root beer! :( I like A&W.

The Gadget I would love to have is one of those body dryers after a shower . . .

Ohh the drying tube! How about the ability to order the shower to a certain temperature before you get in? I would love love love that!

It's a toss up between the wrist unit, the auto-chef and the droid.

For me I want the droid. I would love to program someone to clean my house, cook my meals, wash the clothes, and do the yard work. I wouldn't want the drying tube. I live in a warm climate, just what I need more hot air.

Okay, you've sold me on the droid.

Okay, now I want a droid, too! I wish I had a droid to walk to dogs and pick up their poo! Blegh, it's so gross!

Sara ♥ wrote: "Okay, now I want a droid, too! I wish I had a droid to walk to dogs and pick up their poo! Blegh, it's so gross!"

And to housebreak and train the dogs.

Karon wrote: "How about one of those "evil" vending machines that Eve fights with so often? She just knows there's a conspiracy among them...AGAINST HER....lol

Not necessarily a gadget but is anyone curious ..."

i am pretty curious about what a "tube" of pepsi looks like! and i wonder if droids look like robots or like humans. can't figure it out...

I think they are humanlike Elizabeth. In a recent passage I just heard (audio version) Eve had to decide if the "person" she was coming upon was a droid or not. It really baffles me too, how a droid can look human. The only robots I can picture is the one in the movie Short Circuit!

BTW I want a droid too....don't leave me out!

Eve mentions that it's in the eyes...her way of determining it's a droid so I guess they appear really lifelike.

oh okay in retrospect i remember eve saying some of those things

Okay, the droid wins because he/she could stock the auto chef and make sure the gadget who cuts the grass and picks up the leaves is doing it's job. I have this tree that leaves all year round and I would love a gadget to take care of that little problem for me.

Karon wrote: "I think they are humanlike Elizabeth. In a recent passage I just heard (audio version) Eve had to decide if the "person" she was coming upon was a droid or not. It really baffles me too, how a droid can look human. The only robots I can picture is the one in the movie Short Circuit! "

Agreed about the droids looking human. But I gotta say, OBVIOUSLY someone is not a Battlestar Galactica fan... ;) I always picture droids looking like this: Boomer (Number 8) & Number 6 :)
Or like Data (Star Trek: TNG).

Sara ♥ wrote: "Karon wrote: "I think they are humanlike Elizabeth. In a recent passage I just heard (audio version) Eve had to decide if the "person" she was coming upon was a droid or not. It really baffles me t..."

But if you look at the TNG movie First Contact you'd see that even Data could have looked human. I think it's the covering that makes them look human, like next to real skin. If you remember when Eve had to go wired someplace they would always cover the wire with a skin like cover. I think if they can do that they can mass produce it to cover a droid's whole body.

Take a look at Surrogates. A movie starring Bruce Willis. That is to me exactly what they would look like. The movie concept is just different as the human mind controls the robot where droids are just programmed.

According to Morse, and Eve agrees, droids are somewhat creepy and pitiable. That's from Fantasy in Death.

huh. i wonder if they are like...fleshy...or if they are more hard and robotic like.

Elizabeth wrote: "huh. i wonder if they are like...fleshy...or if they are more hard and robotic like."

I bet they are fleshy. Otherwise it would really really hurt to be bumped up against one or knocked into one. Plus in Conspiracy in Death (view spoiler)[Zeke got into a fight with one who looked like that guy (forget his name) if it wasn't fleshy or human feeling then he'd have known right away he was fighting a droid. and he didn't.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Also look at loyalty in death. there are some good descriptions there.

Conspiracy in Death... RRRIIIIIIIIIGHT! Of course. That type of droid was top-of-the-line though... new technology.

You guys are right i bet they are fleshy. i just cant IMAGINE a fleshy, realistic NONperson, you know?

Apparently it's all in the voice... Eve can always tell by their voice.

Hey as far as I am concerned, I don't care what the droid looked or sounded like. If I could get it to do all the hated jobs in my house I would be as happy as a pig in mud.

Dee wrote: "Hey as far as I am concerned, I don't care what the droid looked or sounded like. If I could get it to do all the hated jobs in my house I would be as happy as a pig in mud."

I second that motion...or is it emotion?

Dee wrote: "Hey as far as I am concerned, I don't care what the droid looked or sounded like. If I could get it to do all the hated jobs in my house I would be as happy as a pig in mud."

agreed.

Ditto!

What about the virtual goggles? Does anyone like that idea?

I would like that, but if it is as great as they portray it in the book, who would want to come out of it?

yes i would love them IF they were as awesome as in the book. but i cant understand how a set of goggles could make it feel as if there is sand on your feet or if your making out/having sex with someone. but maybe its because i am not in the future so i just cant imagine that haha. i am sure people fifty years ago couldnt understand anything about the iphone if it was described to them.

I'd rather do the hollo than the goggles. That would be a cool thing to have in the house.

Yeah, ditto. I don't think I'd go for the goggles much... I'd rather do holo as well. It's seem more "real"... I can't imagine the goggles being comfortable enough for me to forget I was wearing them, you know?

i totally agree with you guys! Holo all the way

Although as I recall, Eve had quite an experience with the goggles in one book. I believe it was Rapture, a good name for it.

Yeah if I had a holo room I probably would spend all my time there. I think that would be dangerous, at least for me.

I was in the local pharmacy the other day and on display near the register was this blue bottle of stuff that you use to seal your hands to protect them...it threw me for a loop, thinking immediately of the Seal-It used in the In Death series! I thought "wow, some of this stuff really is coming true!" But upon closer look, it's more like a lotion. It still creeped me out..a little!

That's awesome!!

Not long ago, standing in line at Wallymart, I saw the soda coolers that are up at the checkout and low and behold they had a new kind of drink in tubes. I should have taken a pic. If I see it again I will. It reminded me right away of ID. Police are now using videos of crime scenes too. It will be a matter of time till they have a small enough unit to attach to the lapel, and yes I had heard they can now use a form of seal-it but its not widely used yet. JD did a lot of research in the sciences to find out what they are working on in the future so she could use those devices in regular life in the series. Smart woman!

What year did the In Death books start? 1995? Yeah. J.D. did pretty good!

I DO think it's kinda funny that they still use hard copies of paperwork, although maybe during the Urban War, people destroyed a lot of electronic files making those not as reliable as we seem to think they are?

Cheri wrote: "Not long ago, standing in line at Wallymart, I saw the soda coolers that are up at the checkout and low and behold they had a new kind of drink in tubes. I should have taken a pic. If I see it agai..."

I was watching the news last week and they said they were putting cameras on eye glasses for the police. It won't be long before it will be attached to the lapel.

Robb is a regular Jules Verne.

Karon wrote: "I was in the local pharmacy the other day and on display near the register was this blue bottle of stuff that you use to seal your hands to protect them...it threw me for a loop, thinking immediate..."

That is way too funny!

Okay everyone convinced me the droid would be best since it could cook, clean, babysit and do laundry. As for how they look, I always envisioned Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man when they were being described. More human looking but could be identified by their lack of human inflection.

Good point! According to Eve, it's all in the droid's eyes.

Did you know that you can now purchase *almost* the equivalent of a "drying tube?" I saw one on Pinterest the other day; it's installed within the shower and blows warm air...no towels needed!

I knew it would be just a matter of time for that.