How does fiction adapt to technological advancement? For instance,

I'm currently reading War and Peace. Smart phones would not solve any of the problems.

I think TV and movies have a harder time adapting. I've noted many times where now a person would whip out a cell phone or spend 5 minutes on Wikipedia.

>>8918454
There are countless examples of instances in which smartphones would drastically help the protagonist, like Less Than Zero.

In the aforementioned, with the existence of smartphones, the story would probably be shortened to 20 pages or something.

In order to avoid any inconsistencies, should would just base their stories before such technology even existed?

Fiction exists only in the setting you give it. Any failure to understand plot elements based on a difference between modern society and the setting provided is either the fault of the writer's chronological ambiguity, or the reader's own incompetence.

Any attempt to "update" a story for a modern era is only an attempt to further capitalize on the success of the original work.

Don't bother with trivial shit like this OP, if anyone actually complains about this they aren't worth listening to

>>8918508
Why does that matter?

>>8918508
taipei is literally less than zero with the internet (and no plot)

>>8918454

Pierre looking up Yelp reviews for the Free Masons could have helped him avoid the folly of utopian thinking.

>>8918422

Do you and everyone you know currently live in perfect and fulfilled lives?

File: 1481607034620.jpg (21KB, 236x314px) Image search: [Google]

21KB, 236x314px

>>8918537
Let me rephrase my question:

Say I wrote a story based in present day, and I decided to incorporate a chapter in which the protagonist wrote a letter to his girlfriend who abodes in another continent; and until that letter was delivered, much has happened since then, like her cheating on him and getting pregnant-- it's just an example. Couldn't all that be circumvented if the protagonist decided to just send an email instead? Incidentally, what I'm getting at is how do I avoid fallacies like this? I understand that it partially comes down to the writer, so how does one take into account technology?

>>8918601
Wait, what exactly are you getting at here? Are you asking if it's possible for a writer to dream up a dilemma that won't someday be solvable via technology. Because the answer to that question is probably no. No one has enough imagination to do that.

I'm not sure why you're posting this. Are you autistic and unable to read consume a novel without being distracted by the fact that the characters don't have smartphones?

yeah like in lord of the rings why didn't they just put the ring on a drone and fly it over the volcano and drop it in like a delivery of coffee from future amazon

>>8918599
Yes

>>8918454
I'm pretty sure Natasha would've instantly realized what a jerk Kuragin was after he send her a dic pic

File: 1482902159001.jpg (64KB, 544x343px) Image search: [Google]

64KB, 544x343px

>>8918640
This is what I'm getting at: >>8918647

>>8918647
lmao

>>8918647

I think you've just described how to write a "discworld" book

>>8918422
>reading for the plot
Also, wouldn't all problems in fiction be resolved if all of the characters were all powerful cosmic beings? haha checkmate authors

>>8918601
Don't write outdated things in your story in the first place if your goal is to have a modern setting.

It's as easy as that. I don't know why you have a problem wrapping your head around this. I you MUST have a certain scenario in your story, find a different reason that actually makes sense or drop it altogether