I believe we got a little bit carried away here on ramdrives, ramscoops and ramstuff, so I will give you two more things to ponder:
* - a POD - hence the podmaster, pod...
* - huds (I THINK it is from Head-Up Display) but what do you think it looks like? Is it something like shades? Or bigger? Or smaller? Or is it so small it is not even visible? Is it some retinual projection system? What the heck is it?
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1.) A pod, in this case, is just another word for group. Emergent society is apparently broken up into these tightly-knit, strongly controlled groups. So the Podmaster is just the group leader.
2.) Yes, that's what Vinge means by hud. There are, as I recall, a few different kinds in the novel. I'll look through it and get back to you tomorrow, unless Lee beats me to it.
One of the interfaces was a headpiece sort of setup, like fancy glasses. The other utilized those very tiny probes that Pham Nuwen had picked up early in his adventures and modified. But only he was aware of their full capabilities. As far as use goes, I think he slipped one or two into the corner of each eye, and they projected images that way.
posted
Right. Now I remember. Those eyepieces were a limited VR device, and I think it was those that were commonly referred to as 'huds.' Most people didn't know about the properties of the micrprobes, let alone have a name for them.
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