"Ice Crystals" photo CC-BY spurekar For a few years now, I've been analyzing how technology is represented in fiction and popular culture. I not only mean specific technologies or devices, but also the core concept of what technology is in a given genre, world or story. To illustrate with an example: In most modern action and superhero movies, technology is always a weapon. We don't see widely-spread infrastructure, we rarely see plot-related neutral technologies, but we see a lot of new threats coming from tech, be it androids, satellites, laser weapons and other McGuffins. It is usually also an artifact, a prototype, something one-of-a-kind that cannot be replicated, or it will lose its plot relevancy. Wakanda cannot revolutionize African electrical grids with Vibranium the same way Iron Man doesn’t replace oil and coal worldwide. On the other hand, in cyberpunk and dystopian futures, technology is either a means of oppression or rebellion. This time it's usually evil governmental/corporate infrastructure oppressing people, or some disruptive gadgets used by anarchist protagonists. Staying out of the …