Cover of The vidiot by Ib Melchior
Public domain title via Project Gutenberg
Cameras -- Fiction Verified Public Domain

The vidiot

By Ib Melchior

The vidiot by Ib Melchior is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It centers on a television technician who accidentally discovers a way to see through walls, raising questions about surveillance, power, and moral responsibility. An ambitious TV “vidiot,” Don Hartley,…

Catalog ID Project Gutenberg eBook #78057
Language English
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About this Edition

The vidiot by Ib Melchior is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It centers on a television technician who accidentally discovers a way to see through walls, raising questions about surveillance, power, and moral responsibility. An ambitious TV “vidiot,” Don Hartley, is testing special-effects gear during a space-opera rehearsal when a shorted circuit turns a matte into a window that peers through the studio’s backdrop, walls, and out to the street. Mapping the effect, he realizes he can build a single camera—the “Hartleycam”—that could penetrate any barrier. Tempted by fame and fortune, he also envisions a nightmare world of total, inescapable observation and authoritarian control. After a troubled day, he chooses restraint: he visits his executive to confess only the equipment damage, accepts a second chance at work, and keeps his blueprints to himself, concluding that the world is not yet ready for his invention. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects & Topics

Cameras -- FictionInventions -- FictionScience fictionShort storiesTelevision programs -- Fiction
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