Talk:List of technology in the Dune universe/Archive 1

Archive 1

Monopoly

Perhaps I should not have reverted without discussion here, so I am opening a small discussion in good faith. A monopoly is not necessary a legal issue, especially in a fictional context; Wikipedia defines it:

In economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it.^[1] Monopolies are thus characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods.^[2] The verb "monopolize" refers to the process by which a firm gains persistently greater market share than what is expected under perfect competition.

This seems to sum up Axlotl tank technology, of which the Tleilaxu are the only providers; "trade secret" seems a little more like Pepsi vs. Coke. — TAnthony^Talk 05:26, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Even discounting the fact that a monopoly does require a legal or threat-based restriction on the right to reproduce or use a technology, the term trade secret is much more accurate - the matter was not one of legality control, but of secret knowledge. The Tleilaxu knew a secret process. Anyone who learned this knowledge could use it. Also, this "monopoly" (if we grant the term) was not kept. The Bene Gesserit learned the secret (which they also kept hidden) and so did the new face dancers who then grew their own gholas in Hunters of Dune. So, we either have a monopoly, which is not a monopoly, since several competitors have it, or a trade secret, which three parties know, but which they still keep a secret known only to them.

From the trade secret article: " a trade secret is information that: (1) is not generally known to the public; (2) confers some sort of economic benefit on its holder (where this benefit must derive specifically from its not being generally known, not just from the value of the information itself); (3) is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy."

This definition is fully accurate and applies to the secret of the axolotl tanks without question.

Herbert was a man of ideas and properly made distinctions, not of buzzwords. He would have agreed that the Pepsi/Coke analogy was correct - but on a larger and more life and death scale. Let's honor his exactitude with words and use the accurate term. (Thanks for the good faith discussion).Kjaer (talk) 05:45, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Stillsuits and NASA

Has anyone else noticed this?

• Swaminathan, Nikhil (July 13 2009). "Pee Totaler". GOOD Magazine. Retrieved 21 July 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

I haven't really read it, but maybe it would be a useful addition to the discussion of stillsuits and whether they would be possible in RL. Life support system#Water also mentions something like this, I think. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 05:39, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

T-Probes

T-Probes CAN, in fact, be blocked by shere. It is referenced many times in Chapterhouse: Dune.

Axlotl Tanks

It might be interesting to note that, despite the supposed secrecy that has existed for >10,000 years (by the time of miles teg and heretics/chapterhouse), Hasimir Fenrig knew about the Axlotl tanks almost from the outset of project Amal. Adjidica discusses them and displays them openly.Adjidica discusses that the best results come from a bene gesserit tank.

There is even a section in House Corrino in which Fenrig has an inner dialogue that serves the purpose of completely ensuring to the reader that Fenrig does indeed completely understand the Axlotl tank and its source. his thoughts are something to the effect of "it is better to no longer think of them as human, but simply axlotl tanks"

It is just another of the many many glaring inconsistencies in continuity presented by Brian Herbert in his prequel novels —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.6.76.141 (talk) 00:57, 8 May 2010 (UTC)