Caskett in Death discussion

Here’s where we discuss the futuristic setting of the ‘In Death’ series.

I want an AutoChef. Give it to me now. LOL.

I have to confess I didn't really notice it for the first couple of books - it wasn't something that wholly registered. But like you, Travis - I want an AUTOCHEF!
Do bear in mind that in 1994 mobile phones were still barely more than bricks and still (at least here) quite rare.

While the AutoChef sounds great and convenient, it would really add to my laziness, lol.

I love learning about the futuristic details. I like how the time period really separates In Death from Castle and Nikki Heat.

The computers and A.I. systems definitely respond better to voice commands than our current technology. And the links had video calls before we had things like FaceTime. Also hover cars. We don’t have hover cars. Or off world colonies.

my favourite thing is how the links are basically smartphones but probably more sophisticated than the ones we have right now ^^

There are a few things I can't imagine really. You can drive a car and then suddenly you can go up in the air with this car?

The Autochef can cook anything? Okay, I want this thing.

It's always a "unit". A car is a unit, a wrist watch is a unit, there are many units.

What are those slides? Are they in the air like boardwalks, and you don't have to walk but they move?

There really is no real fruit and vegetables anymore? Really? Meat and all we know as foods are only fake? Soy and substitutes? That's really not a great future, if anything like this comes true.

I know that's all the imagination from Nora Roberts and this is a little comfort. Because apart from the Autochef I can live with what I have right now.

I agree, Kerstin, about the future with no real foods. I don't want to live in that kind of world. Sounds so bland.

The car thing bugs me too. Apparently, vehicles can be driven and flown, but not all of them are that way. It sounds cool, though.

They can’t so much fly as briefly hover and glide, from what I can tell. Otherwise you wouldn’t need copters or shuttles. But certain vehicles have this verticals ability to get around traffic. Which makes sense for police etc.

Real food is available but rare due to cost. This seems realistic to the point that in the first place much of our current food is full of corn and soy. Also, add population growth and major wars, and yeah.

I like how they have seeming safe meds for certain things, and yes the auto chef. I get a kick out of “fridgie” and how most sodas are fizzies - but Pepsi is Pepsi.

I confess I just read the first book of the series, so I don't know if this changes later, but it really shocked me the lack of surveillance, which takes an important role in crime solving in Castle. I guess the author could not imagine how monitored we would be twenty years later

SPOILER for Book #8 - Conspiracy in Death!!!!

I need to write my thoughts off my mind about book #8, Conspiracy in Death, even though I'm not finished yet.

This is the first book I'm thinking deeper about the droids, J.D.Robb describes in her books because I'm highly disgusted that a droid can kill a human in such a vicious way, that a human can program a droid to do that in that way.

Of course I'm not a fan of Bowers, she was a mean character and Eve had to suffer from Bowers' nastiness but I'd never have expected her to get killed by a droid. Now Eve is suspended and that's the point I'm at right now.

But the reason for my post: Do you want to have droids in the future? I know that there are tests with robots you can program already in the works. But it's only in the very first steps and I have to tell you that I don't want droids in my life or for the future of the kids in my life if they can be programmed to kill.

This is really shocking for me and I'm glad that this is only a book I read. J.D.Robb had me on edge this time - it's really the first out of the 8 (.5) that gets me worried about the future.

I think we've all been subconsciously programmed by the Asimov Three Laws of Robotics to believe that droids could never kill.

Asimov was rather too optimistic. Anything that relies on human programming can be programmed for good or bad (massive medical stats for research vs. virus hacking/ransomware). Therefore it's not the droids you need to worry about, it's the humans programming them.

As ever, technology and progress cuts both ways.

I have never heard of the Asimov Three Laws of Robotics but I remember not beng that surprised that a droid could kill someone (now I don't remember how the droid killed bowers I only remember how much pain it was to read about eve's reaction to being suspended and wow does this still hurt)
but anyway I am not surprised at all that droids can be programmed to kill people. I would even say droids can kill people in more disturbing ways than people can kill people
mostly because of strength and maybe even ruthlessness (?) like you as a person killing someone is a very personal act but programming a droid to do it takes away the personal part about it so yeah idk
I agree with S.R. about not having to worry about the droids but the humans programming them

You are right, it's the humans. If a human kills someone, he has to step over a cliff, so to speak, but in programming a droid to kill, the action is harmless, it's just programming, plain and simple.

He isn't there for the action, hasn't even to watch it.

So, yes, it'll always be the humans.

***

Oh yes, Eve is hurting, and we as readers hurt with her. Roarke is so sweet but it will take time to get over it...and I still have no idea who the killer is.

We have drones. So that ship sailed.

The rules of robotics:


“A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In later fiction where robots had taken responsibility for government of whole planets and human civilizations, Asimov also added a fourth, or zeroth law, to precede the others: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”

Well, I confess, the futuristic world imagined by JD Robb is just ridiculous! A weird mixture of "Back to the Future," "The Jetsons" and Star Trek. In 1995 there was no World Wide Web, and smart phones didn't exist. So I don't have any problems with her version of future information processing technology. And she does seem to adjust somewhat as the series rolls on. But the droids are completely unrealistic. The autochef, while a fun concept, doesn't really make much sense. The conception of space travel is vague, but there are suggestions that faster than light travel is a thing and there are all sorts of other solar systems being colonized and such travel is cheap enough to have trade goods moving among them.

Roarke's Holo Room can do even more than the holodeck on the Enterprise (TNG)! Is all air travel supersonic? Or space planes, which could make a day trip to Europe possible, or spending the evening in Mexico while still being on time for work the next morning.

Do they have anti-gravity in the future that is cheap enough for air boards and glide carts?

I am a big SF buff and enjoy SF stories the most when they are the most realistic, so all this stuff really bothered me at first. Basically I have learned to just ignore it and enjoy the main plot, Dallas and Roarke, and all of the delightful secondary characters.

I do this in the same spirit I just chose to ignore all the continuity errors on Castle. 😉 If you think about it, Beckett was the only one who had a completely consistent back story. I loved Castle way too much to let a little thing like that get in the way. 😊

I thought of another thing after I posted my first comment. Although the details remain (intentionally I assume) vague, I do like the notion of the Urban Wars. It seems to me like some sort of world wide societal breakdown where everyone started fighting everyone. This history as opposed to some sort of worldwide conflagration started by nations is more appealing to me. And some of the results such as a few more limits on legal rights in police investigation, total outlawing of firearms, etc. would be consistent with that.

You are right, I ignore the future setting, too. Some gadgets are funny, as the Auto Chef or the air traffic. But mostly I enjoy just the plot for what it is without thinking about the future gadgets and stuff.

The thing with the holo room I don't get anyway. They are standing in a room with the VR thing on and assume they are lying at the beach? Please. Where is the enjoyment in that?

I can't imagine that I would feel like sitting at a beach in the sand only by virtually seeing me sitting in the sand.