Off-world Tropes and Devices
The tendency for science fiction to become reality over time
Spoiler alerts: This post has a few.
If companies like Lonestar test datacenters on the lunar surface, sci-fi writers predicted the technology and service level agreements (SLAs).
Sci-fi writers are no longer using “off-world” settings just as cool backdrops or lazy plot fixes. Instead, they use these settings to explore complex problems like communication delays, political power, and leadership changes. When you look at these stories together, a clear pattern emerges of how these worlds are built to solve specific problems.
The most common trope is the use of space as the “Fudge Factor” for a physical firewall. When data is too dangerous or valuable for terrestrial storage, it goes up into the sky. Similarly, DRBCaaS stories explore the “Fudge Factor” of Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BC) as a Service for the wealthy and powerful sentient beings.
Some examples:
- Rogue One: The Citadel Tower on Scarif
- Westworld: The Forge satellite array
- Altered Carbon: Meths real-time needlecasting to satellites
- Battlestar Galactica: The Cylon Resurrection Hub
Of course, enabling faster-than-light (FTL) communication to provide near-instantaneous messaging to ship data across interstellar distances is common in sci-fi too. For now, FTL comms is still considered to be theoretical.
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