So here's my idea: So this group of people get into their head the idea that the internet is not as fast as it could be. So they design a MASSIVE satelite super computer. This super computer then is the heart of ALL comunication in the world. The earth is connected to the supercomputer by seven links, one for each continent. These links have a central point in which all the information on that continent is sent across a room fiberoptically into a wireless transmitter into space. The fiberoptic link is an emergency precaution incase the system becomes corrupt.
Just like a missile silos, the links are guarded by twelve genetically engineer people, each with a key. All twelve genetically activated keys (only a guard can use their key, as well as their genetically identical children), must be used to unplug or replug the link. Eventually the people of the earth loose their trust, for no reason, in the monopoly of the supercomputer and decide to unplug all at once. Unfortunately everything from automated farm equipment to pace makers to cell phones rely on the super computer and when that hyper saturated link is disconnected all technology on earth fails.
Not only that but everyone goes crazy and savage. Imagine waking up one day and noticing something that hasn't happened in hundreds of years, (a black out) suddenly occured. You'd think the world is ending.
So does this sound plausible? If you need more details, let me know.
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"I talk best with my finger tips"
461 / 50,000
Mei 14, 2008 - 18 49
Some of the set up sounds pretty contrived - why would there be one tower for Antarctica and only one for all of Asia? I can see some diagnostic features of a pacemaker being monitored through an outside system, but why would you not have the control within the device?
If you can explain or gloss over those types of concerns, yes, once that computer that everything is attached to is out, bad things are gonna happen.
58,086 / 50,000
Mei 15, 2008 - 06 27
Interesting concept. Needs more backstory though. Why is there just one hub for the entire world network? Is the hub controlled in one place because the world is united into one totalitarian government? It just doesn't seem to make sense that global communications are routed through just one hub. For example, if I'm in Chicago and I want to call someone in Milwaukee, the call isn't going to get routed to a central office on the other side of the world. The worst that can happen if the mega hub goes down is that someone, for example, in North America won't be able to call Asia.
Also in modern telecommunications systems there are more than one route a data stream can take, in case one goes down it can take a different route. There's a lot of redundancy.
50,372 / 50,000
Mei 16, 2008 - 14 06
"Eventually the people of the earth loose their trust, for no reason, in the monopoly of the supercomputer..."
For me, this doesn't work. You need a reason. I'd say you probably haven't developed enough of your backstory yet. That's easily remedied.
Overall, an interesting concept. Keep working on it. ;-)
63,993 / 50,000
Mei 16, 2008 - 15 35
Well, can you give a reason why they decide to unplug =/? That will really help. Also, what happens to the "guards"?
0 / 50,000
Mei 20, 2008 - 00 59
Yeah, the use of comments like "...somehow..." are always bad when you are trying to create a story. Laying down a 'backbone' of the story with placeholder "elaborate on this" bits is fine. So I'd agree with the others in that you need to flesh out the story a bit more.
Some points to keep in mind:
Redundancy - all systems WILL fail at some stage. If a human was involved in designing, operating or using a system, it'll fail. So most systems (everything from power to sewage to mail) have built-in redundancy. Imagine driving to work each day but there is only one road that everyone uses. What happens when a car breaks down? Or you need to do road maintenance?
Computer design - having a super-computer in orbit to do all the processing and having just data links for the rest of the planet seems like a bit of a stretch. There's nothing stopping you from doing it, but you'll be hard pressed to find a reason for it that does not sound shoe-horned. Distributed processing is usually faster and more reliable. You'll probably want to do a bit of homework on how to set this up so that it seems like the logical choice (such as having uber-mega-supa conductor processors that are mind-bogglingly powerful but only work in zero gravity, so they need to be in space rather than on the surface).
Paranoia - governments have enough difficulty talking to each other in a civilized manner, let alone trusting someone else to do all their processing for them. You'll probably need to work in a little pre-history where all the governments united before the time you are interested in.
Also, is it essential that the shut-down be a conscious choice? The current buzz-word is "terrorist" so a deliberate attack on the orbital computer might be a good starting point. Or if you feel like being convoluted, you could go for an accident that was covered up as being an attack but it turns out that it actually was an attack blah, blah, blah.
0 / 50,000
Jun 8, 2008 - 23 13
Your story is pretty good, no its better than good you should continue the route you have taken. But be careful when writing sence there are many movies, like I am Legend, that could be link to your story. Be original in ever aspect and your book will be very,very,very good.