The vidiot by Ib Melchior
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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.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Melchior, Ib, 1917-2015 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Hunter, Mel, 1927-2004 |
| Title | The vidiot |
| Original Publication | New York: King-Size Publications, Inc., 1956. |
| Series Title | Produced from Fantastic Universe, March 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 2.). |
| Credits | Tom Trussel and Sean/IB@DP (This file was produced from images generously (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Inventions -- Fiction |
| Subject | Television programs -- Fiction |
| Subject | Cameras -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78057 |
| Release Date | Feb 27, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 6091 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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