Fictional physical formats
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These physical data formats actually do not exist, but this is just for fun and reference. These include formats from movies, games, tv, sci-fi, etc.
See also Fictional file formats for electronic fictional formats, as well as the "fictional" constructed languages in Spoken Languages.
List
| Format Name | Description | Reference | Author | Publish Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensieve Memory (fictional) | a saved memory in the Harry Potter series, playable on a device called a "pensieve" | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | J. K. Rowling | 2000 |
| Superman Memory Crystal (fictional) | found in his Fortress of Solitude, and can speak to him in the image of his deceased Kryptonian parents. | Superman (movie) [1] | Richard Donner | 1978 |
| Welton Fine-Grain Memory Cube (fictional) | High-density storage device | Time Enough For Love | Robert Heinlein | 1973 |
| Tri-Type Record (fictional) | A printed card that stores information about a person, including a perfect three-dimensional representation. | The Houses of Iszm | Jack Vance | 1954 |
| Tanks (fictional) | Device that provides mass storage of information | A Logic Named Joe | Murray Leinster | 1946 |
| Synapsis-Coils (fictional) | Human-like storage for computers | Last of the Masters | Philip K. Dick | 1954 |
| Schrön Loop (fictional) | A data storage device, capable of storing all of the information in a planetary datasphere in just a very small (cubic inch) space | Hyperion | Dan Simmons | 1989 |
| Platinum Alloy Disc (fictional) | A silvery disc used for data record storage | Triplanetary | E.E. 'Doc' Smith | 1934 |
| Molecule Matrix (fictional) | Storing information in individual molecules and atoms | Between Planets | Robert Heinlein | 1951 |
| Microwire (fictional) | A very thin wire used for recording purposes | Between Planets | Robert Heinlein | 1951 |
| Merc-Pool (fictional) | A device that stores information in vibration patterns on a mercury surface | Caves of Steel | Isaac Asimov | 1953 |
| Memory Diamond (fictional) | "The box had contained a gemstone the size of his thumb, sitting atop a ... block studded with optical ports - the reader/writer head. It was memory diamond, atoms arranged in a lattice of alternating carbon 12 and carbon 13 nuclei; the preferred data storage format for thee unborn god's chosen few. Dense and durable, twelve grams was enough to store a thousand neural maps and their associated genome data." | Iron Sunrise | Charles Stross | 2004 |
| Heritable Memories Bloodline (fictional) | Using magical means to tie specific memories to the bloodlines of selected families | The Time of the Dark | Barbara Hambly | 1982 |
| Filing Crystal (fictional) | "... a twelve-foot filing crystal glowed like pin quartz." | Babel-17 | Samuel R. Delany | 1966 |
| Dime Disk (fictional) | A very small data storage medium. | The Best of all Possible Wars | Larry Niven | 1998 |
| Isolinear Optical Storage Chips (fictional) | Enterprise-D has three main computer cores, two in the saucer and one in the stardrive section. Each core has "2,048 dedicated modules of 144 isolinear optical storage chips". | Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual | ||
| Data Module (fictional) | A data module was a storage medium used by Skagarans during the late 19th century and by Starfleet in the 22nd century. To an extent, it was the predecessor to the microtape. Skagaran data modules contained data chips that looked extremely similar to crystals. | Star Trek: Enterprise "North Star" | ||
| Isolinear Rod (fictional) | An isolinear rod was a type of information storage technology used by the Cardassian Union. | Star Trek: DS9 | ||
| Filmbook (fictional) | A storage medium for information, both text and video. Any shigawire imprint used in training and carrying a mnemonic pulse. | Dune | Frank Herbert | 1965 |
| Book-Film (fictional) | A storage medium for books[2] | Prelude to Foundation | Isaac Asimov | 1988 |
| Optolythic Data Rod (fictional) | An optolythic data rod is a device used to store information. | Star Trek: DSP "In The Pale Moonlight" | Author | Year |
| Data Card (fictional) | The data card was a computer storage medium used by various races and governments between the 21st through 23rd centuries. Data cards were later replaced by isolinear chips and isolinear rods. | Star Trek: TOS "Where No Man Has Gone Before" | ||
| History Tape (fictional) | A history tape was a data-storage technology designed to hold computer files of visual, audio and text recordings about history. These tapes took the form of thin cylindrical discs which could be inserted for reading into a viewer. | Star Trek: TOS "All Our Yesterdays" | ||
| Datawell (fictional) | The Pathfinders' term for the "real world". Living in an environment of thought and computer data, many of the Pathfinder machine consciousnesses had a hard time conceiving of it and thought of it only as a source for data and other information. | Star Trek: TOS Novel "Memory Prime" | Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens | 1988 |
| Data Record (fictional) | The Data record was a Klingon computer storage medium used in the 22nd century. It is thicker than the Federation Data card. | Star Trek: TOS Novelization: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | ~1984 |
References
- ↑ While the Fortress of Solitude with its multiplicity of artifacts and gadgets, some of them Kryptonian, has a long history in Superman comics, the crystal aesthetic originated with Donner's 1978 film, and has subsequently been used in many film, TV, and comic book versions of Superman.
- ↑ The idea that books might be stored on a medium such as film or tape rather than paper is a recurring trope in old-time science fiction.
