[Salty]

So in chapter three when I say that one character's blackberry conditions him to a state of constant disappointment, by the deluge of negative emails from work flowing in... they might not like that eh?
Do you think I could call it a crack berry without any legal repercussions?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

"Heeey - this is a UNIX system! I know this!"

What movie is that from? I'm thinking it is some sort of 80s movie...

[Spheric Harlot]

YouTube - It's a Unix system

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Salty 

So in chapter three when I say that one character's blackberry conditions him to a state of constant disappointment, by the deluge of negative emails from work flowing in... they might not like that eh?
Do you think I could call it a crack berry without any legal repercussions?

I'd slap my forehead, but only because I can't reach yours.

[Salty]

For calling it a crack berry or the general idea?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

YouTube - It's a Unix system

Hehhe... multiple layers of cheese.

Thanks!

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Salty 

For calling it a crack berry or the general idea?

Because what brand name to use is not worth fussing over, IMHO. In fact, going out of your way to use a brand is somewhat distracting. Just refer to it as his cellphone and call it a day, there is likely nothing added to the writing by being specific about what brand of phone your character is using.

[Spheric Harlot]

Mentioning such technological specifica makes it pretty much certain that most people won't have a clue what you're talking about ten years down the line, and those that do will find it quaint or silly. Using a (derogatory) term for such devices based on a brand name GUARANTEES it.

You're dating and obsoleting your writing before it's even done.

OTOH, the fact that you're worrying about such irrelevancies (just call it a cellphone, or a communicator, or whatever and be done with it) does not bode well.

[besson3c]

Salty: I think what you are trying to do is make your book "new media" in making accurate references to our culture?

The problem is, fictional books and movies are old media. Their characters live in make believe worlds and use make believe technology. Even books that reference actual people and events in this country, it is still almost always a sort of alternate reality sort of world where it doesn't really matter if certain things are not in accordance to our reality.

If you are wanting to make your book new media, I don't know how you could create a fictional work in this medium. To my knowledge this hasn't been done before.

I would encourage deciding whether you want this book to be an alternate reality sort of thing, and if you do, don't try to bring our reality into your world, it would actually be quite distracting and disorienting, I think.

[ghporter]

In his novel "Between Planets," published in 1951, Heinlein has a teenage character take "his phone out of his pocket and..." make a call. No details, nothing particularly technical, just the guy has a phone in his pocket. I think this still works just fine for a reader today. As Spheric Harlot says, just call the phone a phone and be done with it. Let the reader contribute some imagination and stick with telling the story.