The story is about a kid who accidentally summons the demon of electricity and is granted 9 electrical gifts that are far advanced for the day (early 1900’s.)
One of the gifts is something the demon calls a Recorder Of Events and shows important events in a given 24 hour period from anywhere in the world.
Below is the quote:
During the evening he found that an “important event” was Madame Bernhardt’s production of a new play, and Rob followed it from beginning to end with great enjoyment, although he felt a bit guilty at not having purchased a ticket.
“But it’s a crowded house, anyway,” he reflected, “and I’m not taking up a reserved seat or keeping any one else from seeing the show. So where’s the harm? Yet it seems to me if these Records get to be common, as the Demon wishes, people will all stay at home and see the shows, and the poor actors ‘ll starve to death.”
The thought made him uneasy, and he began, for the first time, to entertain a doubt of the Demon’s wisdom in forcing such devices upon humanity.
What foresight from a man who wrote this book around 1904. Wizard of Oz indeed.
Comments
2 responses to “Frank Baum Sees the Future?”
I always wonder if ideas like that in Books and Video inspire inventors to actually create those things. I once read an article about all the things in startrek and what we have now that compares. Very fasinating stuff.
Now that was an impressive read, though he didnt really foresee how that the popular actors of tomorrow arent any where near starvation…Unless you count in the anorexics 😉