I'd start with an "en vogue" example, Foundation by Isaac Asimov (which Apple's Foundation managed to twist to an extremely poor resemblance to the original).
And I was thinking I had missed something in the books...
In book 2 of Jack Vance's "Demon Princes" series, The Killing Machine, Kirth Gersen manages to create vast amounts of counterfeit currency which he uses to ransom Alusz Iphigenia Eperje-Tokay (who has kidnapped herself, as the only way to keep herself free from the clutches of the second Demon Prince, Kokor Hekkus) from Interchange, a quasi-criminal organisation that acts as a clearing house for victims of kidnapping and slaver raids.
In book 2 of Jack Vance's "Demon Princes" series, The Killing Machine, Kirth Gersen manages to create vast amounts of counterfeit currency which he uses to ransom Alusz Iphigenia Eperje-Tokay (who has kidnapped herself, as the only way to keep herself free from the clutches of the second Demon Prince, Kokor Hekkus) from Interchange, a quasi-criminal organisation that acts as a clearing house for victims of kidnapping and slaver raids.
Yes, that works; the forgery plot is a scam of sorts, and the way he gets the materials he needs to make the forgeries is definitely a scam.
James Bolivar diGriz goes by many aliases, including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat". He is a futuristic con man, thief, and all-round rascal.
The Stainless Steel Rat. Harry Harrison
Arthur: OK. Leave this to me. I'm British. I know how to queue.
OR i could go with
Arthur Dent: I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe.
or simply
42
James Bolivar diGriz goes by many aliases, including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat". He is a futuristic con man, thief, and all-round rascal.
The Stainless Steel Rat. Harry Harrison
Yes indeed - one of the answers I've been waiting for, have a meaningless bonus point.
One to go, and no more Foundation and/or Asimov, Star Trek, Jack Vance or Harry Harrison.
Still one to go, and a huge amount of material out there. A little surprised that nobody has mentioned possibly the most famous example in golden age SF.
the Moon. Heinlein.
quote from wiki cause i couldnt remember the name correctly ..... Delos David "D. D." Harriman, "the last of the Robber Barons", is obsessed with being the first to travel to—and possess—the Moon.
had to put this one out of its misery...lol
Arthur: OK. Leave this to me. I'm British. I know how to queue.
OR i could go with
Arthur Dent: I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe.
or simply
42
This whole time the only thing in my brain was the David Bowie song The Man Who Sold The World. Did not fit the Genre well enough to be a legit answer though.
Humor is the second most subjective thing on the planet
Brevity is the soul of wit and vulgarity is wit's downfall
the Moon. Heinlein.
quote from wiki cause i couldnt remember the name correctly ..... Delos David "D. D." Harriman, "the last of the Robber Barons", is obsessed with being the first to travel to—and possess—the Moon.
had to put this one out of its misery...lol
Absofragginglutely - Harriman repeatedly cons his investors and the public to get his ship financed and the funding for future operations, including promising to take some stamps to the moon and frank them there (left out because they ended up weighing too much, and faked afterwards) and taking diamonds to the moon to salt lunar mineral samples.
You have the fifth answer, and inherit the poisoned chalice.
how about 5 common place technologies/items that were written into sci fi as common place; decades before present use... evidence of both instances req.
this could be quick or take forever...lol
usual rules 1 per Author/universe.... yada yada yada.
Arthur: OK. Leave this to me. I'm British. I know how to queue.
OR i could go with
Arthur Dent: I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe.
or simply
42
Modern mobile phones - in written SF used by characters in Heinlein's Space Cadet (1948), on TV there are several predecessors, most notably the Star Trek communicator (1968), which was the size of a modern mobile at a time when the smallest real mobile phone was the size and weight of a brick.
either reference will do but pick one. rule out all Heinlein or all startrek....
Arthur: OK. Leave this to me. I'm British. I know how to queue.
OR i could go with
Arthur Dent: I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe.
or simply
42
