How old is teleportation in SciFi?
-
Batman
- The Dark Knight
- Posts: 4357
- Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:47 am
- 18
- Location: The Timmverse, the only place where DC Comics still make a modicum of sense
- Contact:
#1 How old is teleportation in SciFi?
I earlier tonight watched the '11 Dr Who Christmas Special ('The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe') and the scene when the Platform crew beam out on Marge got me thinking. She's obviously flabberghasted, being from 1941, before Trek transporters became moderately well known, and I very much suspect modern day SciFi fans well versed with various forms of teleportation wouldn't be that much better of seeing it actually happen, but would pre-Trek SciFi fans (post-Trek the 'prepare for beamout' warning is something of a dead giveaway) be able to recognize it as a kind of teleportation technology? When was it first used in a Sci-Fi story?
'I wonder how far the barometer sunk.'-'All der way. Trust me on dis.'
'Go ahead. Bake my quiche'.
'Undead or alive, you're coming with me.'
'Detritus?'-'Yessir?'-'Never go to Klatch'.-'Yessir.'
'Many fine old manuscripts in that place, I believe. Without price, I'm told.'-'Yes, sir. Certainly worthless, sir.'-'Is it possible you misunderstood what I just said, Commander?'
'Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a sword a little'
'Run away, and live to run away another day'-The Rincewind principle
'Hello, inner child. I'm the inner babysitter.'
'Go ahead. Bake my quiche'.
'Undead or alive, you're coming with me.'
'Detritus?'-'Yessir?'-'Never go to Klatch'.-'Yessir.'
'Many fine old manuscripts in that place, I believe. Without price, I'm told.'-'Yes, sir. Certainly worthless, sir.'-'Is it possible you misunderstood what I just said, Commander?'
'Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a sword a little'
'Run away, and live to run away another day'-The Rincewind principle
'Hello, inner child. I'm the inner babysitter.'
-
frigidmagi
- Dragon Death-Marine General
- Posts: 14757
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:03 am
- 19
- Location: Alone and unafraid
#2 Re: How old is teleportation in SciFi?
Do you mean T.V., comics or print?
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
-
Batman
- The Dark Knight
- Posts: 4357
- Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:47 am
- 18
- Location: The Timmverse, the only place where DC Comics still make a modicum of sense
- Contact:
#3 Re: How old is teleportation in SciFi?
I mean anything SciFi that has obviously technological teleportation so someone familiar with the material, after they got over the 'OMG that didn't just happen' effect, would conclude to have been.
'I wonder how far the barometer sunk.'-'All der way. Trust me on dis.'
'Go ahead. Bake my quiche'.
'Undead or alive, you're coming with me.'
'Detritus?'-'Yessir?'-'Never go to Klatch'.-'Yessir.'
'Many fine old manuscripts in that place, I believe. Without price, I'm told.'-'Yes, sir. Certainly worthless, sir.'-'Is it possible you misunderstood what I just said, Commander?'
'Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a sword a little'
'Run away, and live to run away another day'-The Rincewind principle
'Hello, inner child. I'm the inner babysitter.'
'Go ahead. Bake my quiche'.
'Undead or alive, you're coming with me.'
'Detritus?'-'Yessir?'-'Never go to Klatch'.-'Yessir.'
'Many fine old manuscripts in that place, I believe. Without price, I'm told.'-'Yes, sir. Certainly worthless, sir.'-'Is it possible you misunderstood what I just said, Commander?'
'Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a sword a little'
'Run away, and live to run away another day'-The Rincewind principle
'Hello, inner child. I'm the inner babysitter.'
-
frigidmagi
- Dragon Death-Marine General
- Posts: 14757
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:03 am
- 19
- Location: Alone and unafraid
#4 Re: How old is teleportation in SciFi?
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine 1929. The first time on screen was I think Buck Rogers in the 1930s. The concept doesn't really kick off until the golden age of science fiction in the 1950s and doesn't hit popular culture until Star Trek in the 1960s.
So the answer would be older then you are.
Now if you want talk fantasy, teleportation has been around forever, showing up in middle eastern and Chinese stories.
So the answer would be older then you are.
Now if you want talk fantasy, teleportation has been around forever, showing up in middle eastern and Chinese stories.
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
-
Batman
- The Dark Knight
- Posts: 4357
- Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:47 am
- 18
- Location: The Timmverse, the only place where DC Comics still make a modicum of sense
- Contact:
#5 Re: How old is teleportation in SciFi?
No, I was absolutely talking about technological teleporters in SciFi, and the very reason I mentioned Trek was those were the the very first I was aware of. (The Perryverse had site-to-site teleportation with fixed installations before that, as had the ZBV series before it, but I can't recall any 'Scotty beam me up' teleportation earlier than that).
'I wonder how far the barometer sunk.'-'All der way. Trust me on dis.'
'Go ahead. Bake my quiche'.
'Undead or alive, you're coming with me.'
'Detritus?'-'Yessir?'-'Never go to Klatch'.-'Yessir.'
'Many fine old manuscripts in that place, I believe. Without price, I'm told.'-'Yes, sir. Certainly worthless, sir.'-'Is it possible you misunderstood what I just said, Commander?'
'Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a sword a little'
'Run away, and live to run away another day'-The Rincewind principle
'Hello, inner child. I'm the inner babysitter.'
'Go ahead. Bake my quiche'.
'Undead or alive, you're coming with me.'
'Detritus?'-'Yessir?'-'Never go to Klatch'.-'Yessir.'
'Many fine old manuscripts in that place, I believe. Without price, I'm told.'-'Yes, sir. Certainly worthless, sir.'-'Is it possible you misunderstood what I just said, Commander?'
'Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a sword a little'
'Run away, and live to run away another day'-The Rincewind principle
'Hello, inner child. I'm the inner babysitter.'
-
Josh
- Resident of the Kingdom of Eternal Cockjobbery
- Posts: 8114
- Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:51 pm
- 19
- Location: Kingdom of Eternal Cockjobbery
#6 Re: How old is teleportation in SciFi?
I wouldn't be at all surprised if the concept didn't show up earlier in science fiction than even that Doyle story. IIRC the internet was predicted in function in a story from around 1906, right down the the social alienation it could cause. But I really have no idea how you'd look something like that up, and there's probably been a lot of cool stuff predicted in the early early pulp mags that are now lost and gone forever.
When the Frog God smiles, arm yourself.
"'Flammable' and 'inflammable' have the same meaning! This language is insane!"
GIVE ME COFFEE AND I WILL ALLOW YOU TO LIVE!- Frigid
"Ork 'as no automatic code o' survival. 'is partic'lar distinction from all udda livin' gits is tha necessity ta act inna face o' alternatives by means o' dakka."
I created the sound of madness, wrote the book on pain
"'Flammable' and 'inflammable' have the same meaning! This language is insane!"
GIVE ME COFFEE AND I WILL ALLOW YOU TO LIVE!- Frigid
"Ork 'as no automatic code o' survival. 'is partic'lar distinction from all udda livin' gits is tha necessity ta act inna face o' alternatives by means o' dakka."
I created the sound of madness, wrote the book on pain
#7 Re: How old is teleportation in SciFi?
E.E. "Doc" Smith's Skylark series had fourth dimensional transportation/teleportation of everything from people to using the technology to transport stars and planets between galaxies, going back to the 1920's-1930's.