Movie Gadget Friday: Johnny Mnemonic
By Ariel Waldman 
posted Apr 11th 2008 10:41PM
posted Apr 11th 2008 10:41PM
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.
For last week's installment of Movie Gadget Friday, we featured a two-part look at 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, in honor of the late great Arthur C. Clarke. This week we fast forward a few more years to 2021 in the "cyberpunk" world of Johnny Mnemonic. The gadgets are as hilariously lame as the lines, which likely led this 1995 film to its mixed reviews, and Keanu to his later role as Neo. From fax machines to Zip Disk-like passports, we can only hope the future of technology doesn't look this grim.
Wet-wired brain implant and memory doubler
Shoved into the back of his skull and wet-wired to his brain, Johnny comes equipped with a shockingly small 80GB chunk of memory capable of smugging data between international borders. An input for a standard headphone jack is located at the back of his head and serves as the only port for uploads -- which are pretty painful. New data can be accepted from seemingly any source connecting to the input, however, MiniDiscs appear to be smugglers' preference thanks to their easy ability to be burned once an upload is complete. (This is key when expecting a mob with machine guns to show up at any minute.) Thankfully, individually-wrapped memory doublers can help boost implant storage capacity for double the data smuggling -- we hope it uses lossless compression. Unfortunately, instead of receiving an error for exceeding capacity, anyone with an overloaded brain implant risks certain death within a couple days by the resulting synaptic seepage. More after the break.
Sino-logic 16 with Sogo-7 Data Gloves
If you're suffering from web withdrawal symptoms and need the internet in a pinch, you can hack yourself a computer with just a few gadgets that are sure to be lying around in any abandoned warehouse. With a Sino-Logic 16, Sogo-7 data gloves, GPL stealth module, Burdine intelligent translator, and some Thompson eye-phones (hey, Apple can't win every lawsuit), you too can build yourself a virtual reality platform. The Sino-Logic 16 integrates multiple devices and tasks into creating a purely GUI experience devoid of any use for WIMPs (or a mouse and keyboard for that matter). The interface responds to the seemingly over-the-top gestural movements by the user's interaction with the Sogo-7 data gloves. The system interacts with the user as well, politely sending out electrical shocks for entering in incorrect access codes.
Video Phone
On your TV, desktop, Bible, or in the backseat of a cab, video phones are on just about every street corner (but oddly not in every pocket). Operated by AT&T (who else?), these full-color screens transmit uninterrupted live video phone calls. While the service is solid, the lack in quality and features definitely leaves much to be desired. The amount of graininess varies from screen to screen but the basic numeric keypad remains the same. Left with no QWERTY keyboard and only a TV remote control to dial long distance, we'd rather have our hands on a Video-Phone-B-Gone.
Ariel Waldman is a social media insights consultant based in San Francisco. Her blog can be found at http://arielwaldman.com.
For last week's installment of Movie Gadget Friday, we featured a two-part look at 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, in honor of the late great Arthur C. Clarke. This week we fast forward a few more years to 2021 in the "cyberpunk" world of Johnny Mnemonic. The gadgets are as hilariously lame as the lines, which likely led this 1995 film to its mixed reviews, and Keanu to his later role as Neo. From fax machines to Zip Disk-like passports, we can only hope the future of technology doesn't look this grim.
Shoved into the back of his skull and wet-wired to his brain, Johnny comes equipped with a shockingly small 80GB chunk of memory capable of smugging data between international borders. An input for a standard headphone jack is located at the back of his head and serves as the only port for uploads -- which are pretty painful. New data can be accepted from seemingly any source connecting to the input, however, MiniDiscs appear to be smugglers' preference thanks to their easy ability to be burned once an upload is complete. (This is key when expecting a mob with machine guns to show up at any minute.) Thankfully, individually-wrapped memory doublers can help boost implant storage capacity for double the data smuggling -- we hope it uses lossless compression. Unfortunately, instead of receiving an error for exceeding capacity, anyone with an overloaded brain implant risks certain death within a couple days by the resulting synaptic seepage. More after the break.
If you're suffering from web withdrawal symptoms and need the internet in a pinch, you can hack yourself a computer with just a few gadgets that are sure to be lying around in any abandoned warehouse. With a Sino-Logic 16, Sogo-7 data gloves, GPL stealth module, Burdine intelligent translator, and some Thompson eye-phones (hey, Apple can't win every lawsuit), you too can build yourself a virtual reality platform. The Sino-Logic 16 integrates multiple devices and tasks into creating a purely GUI experience devoid of any use for WIMPs (or a mouse and keyboard for that matter). The interface responds to the seemingly over-the-top gestural movements by the user's interaction with the Sogo-7 data gloves. The system interacts with the user as well, politely sending out electrical shocks for entering in incorrect access codes.
On your TV, desktop, Bible, or in the backseat of a cab, video phones are on just about every street corner (but oddly not in every pocket). Operated by AT&T (who else?), these full-color screens transmit uninterrupted live video phone calls. While the service is solid, the lack in quality and features definitely leaves much to be desired. The amount of graininess varies from screen to screen but the basic numeric keypad remains the same. Left with no QWERTY keyboard and only a TV remote control to dial long distance, we'd rather have our hands on a Video-Phone-B-Gone.
Ariel Waldman is a social media insights consultant based in San Francisco. Her blog can be found at http://arielwaldman.com.
He should have use an Apple memory doubler, of course it would only have been compatible with 5% of the brains on the market, but you know it would have worked.
Much of this "low tech" high tech stuff was either suggested by, or described by William Gibson in 1981 when the short story came out. This stuff was incredibly insightful for that time period and I think you're doing him a disservice by even connecting the "movie" (and I use that term loosely...) with the things from the story--especially as the movie was done 14 years later and they couldn't (or wouldn't) improve on the tech.
Let's hope that at least some of the readers of this site are familiar with William Gibson.
Don't forget that William Gibson himself is credited as the sole screenwriter for this movie, so he can still share much of the blame for the technology in the movie.
I had forgotten, honestly.
I met him recently at a book signing for Spook Country. Gruff old bird who didn't get why audio books would be interesting to people (I asked why so few of his books were in audio).
Poor Bill. I think Hollywood got the better of him here. I wonder what he thought of it after all was said and done, and if he knew how badly this film would turn out compared to the subtlety of his fiction.
Another thing to keep in mind, is that Gibson didn't touch a computer untill Mona Lisa Overdrive. Which really makes his take on technology (at the time) that much more intresting.
Also, in Cyberpunk, the technology was always gritty... it wouldn't work if everyone was running around with perfect techology that always worked. That would take straight into Sci-Fi, out of the Cyberpunk world. In Gibsons universe, much of the technology that the black-marketers got their hands on was old military technology. It was more powerful then the consumer products, but never as neatly packaged.
When I think of the lingo in this movie, I think of BoingBoing. And I want to tear my eyes out.
I have been told that Robert Longo really wanted to do it as a short , but that the backers insisted that it be released as a feature rather than an art film.
Also, remember that in 1995 it featured the same UI concepts that everybody was gaga about in Minority Report it 2002 and Microsoft Surface whenever that comes out.
Rocketboy:
I agree that the technology was often portrayed as "gritty", but my recollection was that it was only gritty for those that couldn't afford the good stuff. The Yakuza had the high-end stuff. It was the runners--the street hoods and those looking to climb the ladders quickly and make a name for themselves--that would get their mods in the Sprawl, and get screwed as often as not.
I am just glad to have a mention here XD.
@Paul... True, but the style is CyberPunk, not CyberCorp. Also, unless someone had some serious cash, the 'nice' equipment you could buy in a store was no-where near as powerful as the 'gritty' equipment you could get on the street.
Cool, I wanna be a data smugger, too
I could really use an eye-phone.
ahaha good one
- http://www.stompergames.com
cyberpunk == dystopia
yeah, the technology sucks, that's kinda the point.
I love Movie Gadget Friday!
I'm watching this movie right now.
If Keanau wasn't around, we would never realize how good Johnny Depp is.
It's unfortunate that the video-phone services haven't improved much in the 11 years since 2001.
I have no problem with video calls no matter where I am. 3G ftw.
i love it how a dolphin saves him
Loop it through Jones!
Anyone remember when "300 GIGABYTES!" was a whole load of space?
Anyone remember when my 40GB disc was huge?
Yeah, those were the times....
Try 40MB you freakin' youngsters - Even more hardcore was STACKER. Imagine Zipping your entire hard-drive just to double the space.
Plus, you don't even want to know what a 40MB HDD was worth - Oh, and it was a 5.25" not a 3.5".
HDDs? We had to use Floppies back in my day, and not the hrd covered 3.5" but the REAL floppies I'm talking 5 1/4" floppies, that and 640k RAM, good days :)
richard-
My old Amiga 2000 had a 40MB SCSI HDD. :D 5.25" indeed.
Floppy Disks? The first software program I purchased was stored on an Audio Tape (like you play in your car, if you have an old school car radio) What you did is play the tape through a cassette player (e.g. http://www.mainbyte.com/ti99/hardware/cassette/recorder.html) into the computer modem to load the software.
A typical 45min cassette tape held about 100k
Floppies?
Hard Disks??
My first computer had no storage and you had to enter "code" by setting 8 physical switches for the binary bits.
Programs were stored on small punched cards which had to be loaded manually and in order...
@Eddie
Wow. We have it REALLY damn good nowadays, huh?
"At this point you should have the basic knowledge for choosing a cassette recorder, and getting it to work with your computer. Keep in mind that tape storage transforms your Home Computer into a very powerful and versatile machine. And once you get familiar with the few simple procedures and precautions, each occasion of saving and loading programs and data files will become second nature, one might even say, “filled with memories . .""
Geez.
Hard Drives?
Floppy Disks?
Tape Drives?
Punched Cards?
Ha!
I remember back in my day when we used to store information by carving into stone tablets. Good times.
Cassini wins!
Stone?
Back in my day we didn't have no stone. We arranged hydrogen atoms for data just after the big bang.
No one else use cassette tapes for storage?
Dude, I remember sitting in front of my shiny new PC once thinking...
"What the hell am I gonna do with 20 meg of storage?"
Look sonny, my first HDD was a massive 5MB and was the of a toaster oven.
Remember, Bill gates himself told us that 640K was all anyone would ever need, and when did he ever lie to us?
After watching Johnny Mnemonic recently, all I can say is I hope the new Neuromancer movie coming is anywhere near as cool as this. This is one of those few movies that actually has improved with age. Its this strange feeling of science fiction becoming science fact. It also took some of the best aspects of cyberpunk and made it cool for the masses. Was it a perfect movie? Not by a long shot. The acting was pretty awful, many of the characters where pretty disposable, and the storyline was pretty much ripped directly from neuromancer, but that combination has somehow worked out perfectly. And who can forget "I WANT ROOM SERVICE!!!"
It's not technically a rip of Neuromancer. It's written by the same author (William Gibson) and it takes place in the same "universe" with some of the same characters. He wrote the screenplay based on a short story he wrote as a part of the "Burning Chrome" collection.
I NEED
*makes ridiculous hand gestures*
A COMPUTER!!!
just one small grammar nitpick Engadget guys...the phrase "For the last installment of Movie Gadget Friday...", makes it seem that it would be the FINAL one, which obviously isn't the case...just wanted to point that out...
Gibson FTW by the way...
What about another cult film from the same year - Strange Days (http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2861236505/), a must see I reckon.
Another huge Minidisc endorsement plus virtual reality (or dreams), but look at now...
Next week perhaps?
Yep, made in 1995, depicting the far-off year of 1999 A.D. Speech-to-screen-text phone translation in real time, full virtual reality using direct cortical stimulation which is somehow stored on something as small as a minidisc. But it's the blatantly Rodney King style smackdown of a rapping would-be Malcolm X that makes this flick "so '90s." :o)
Hay even if Mini disk endorsment is a bit naff... THe film looks rather good :D Good consperiacy concept :D
"What the hell is a BigaGyte?"
--Marty McFly
My buddy at the CIA told me that the Chinese intelligence dept had been working on a bio memory technology similar to that of Johnny Mnemonic. The head scientist got the inspiration after watching a bootlegged copy of the movie on VCD. However, unlike the movie where the plug is located in the back of the skull, the Chinese decided to place the plug at the anus of the spy where it's more difficult to detect. According to my friend, an unknown number of Chinese spies with anal memory implants are active inside the US. The counter intelligence dept of the CIA had resorted to full body cavity searches to detect these memory smugglers. scary stuff.
Ouch,
"Hold on, I need to download."
Brings a new meaning to "memory dump".
Nice. Only one qualm, he didn't get all the parts in a random warehouse. If you look on the sign of the door as the Yakuza are trying to break in it says Computer Shop.
Also, Ice-T, Henrey Rollins, Dizzy(from Starhip Troopers) ... this was a great supporting cast. (Perhaps not great in terms of performance though...)
I'm really surprised they didn't mention the laser-garrote that the bad guy had. Granted it wasn't exactly common future-tech like the video phone, but it was decidedly bad-ass.
You should make a movie gadget friday feature about "Pi: faith in chaos"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138704/
I think a couple Micro SD cards up your Wahoo would be a better way to smuggle data. No wierd plug in the head and no death from to much info, maybe lead poisoning if the card was not ROHS compliant.
The movie was great... for about 10-15 minutes, before they introduce that awful Jade and Ice T... then it's damn awful with the one exception the dolphin code breaker at the finale.
Henry Rollins' first movie role! Although I am a fan of Rollins his performance in this movie is terrible.
Dolphins addicted to smack? Heavy stuff.
one word: 'ribofunk' very cool book
Oh Engadget. Thank you for reminding us of this movie. When the Sino-Logic 16 and Burdine intelligent translator become available, I hope you'll be the first blog to tell me where I can purchase them from. I have also wanted a pair of Thompson Eye-Phones forever. Do you think Woot will sell them when the time comes?
Unfortunately you left out perhaps the greatest piece of technology in the film and it is delightfully low-tech. GRENADE ON A KEYCHAN! It's right there for all your incendiary needs at all times. Think about it: Yakuza banging on your door? Grenade on a keychan. Zombie attacks at the shopping mall? Grenade on a keychan. New Kids on the Block Reunion concert? GRENADE ON A KEYCHAIN! I'd buy stock if I could.
Johny sure would make a more interesting prize to hack than a MacBook Air. Pwn to Own 2021 goes to a dolphin.
ah WANNIT outtamah HEAD!
I wonder if you could Jailbreak Keanu and install some acting software and other "non factory" features...
If I remember correctly, in the original story, Johnny had "4 MB of hot RAM" wired into his head. Ironically, I think it'd be impossible to buy only 4 MB of RAM now!