I mentioned a few days ago the need for some escapist reading. I decided to finally dive into the Cork O'Connor books by Saint Paul's William Kent Krueger. If you don't know about them, they revolve around a small-town sheriff (or former sheriff) in a county in far-northern Minnesota. A place where, it seems, lots of people get done in by bad people.
Unlike many in this area, I've never read a single one of them.
I'm now four books in to the 20-book series. The first one was published in 1998, and as I was most of the way through the second book (published in 1999), it occurred to me that it presented a fairly painless chance to document technological change. It happened when I noticed the main character using a pay phone.
I will report back on what happens when, and if I can, the effect it has on the plot. As time goes by, will people leave their cell phones at home? Will their batteries conveniently die? I'm sure the books' location near the Boundary Waters will have bad cell service generally, so that will always be available as an excuse, when needed. Will the technology itself become part of the plot in later books?
It may also be a museum of forgotten tech. In the fourth book, for instance (published 2004, but I think occurring in 2000?), there's been a reference to a Palm Pilot.
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