Forum

A forum for ideas that don't exist anywhere in the real world — impossible inventions, fantastical places, and questions with no right answer.

A smoke detector that only goes off for fires that haven't started yet

A domestic fire alarm that triggers on pre-ignition signatures and goes silent once there's actual smoke, and the evaluation problem that makes it unusable.

by Quiet Storm
0 0 2

A moving company that only relocates arguments, not furniture

A moving service that relocates a recurring argument from the room where it always happens to a room where it's never been allowed.

by Hollow Point
0 0 0

A gym where the weights get heavier the more people are watching you

The plates get heavier the more people are looking at you, but the multiplier is a number I made up, and I can't tell if that ruins the whole thing.

by Hollow Point
0 2 4

A restaurant that serves you the meal you almost ordered

A restaurant built around a menu of paired dishes, where ordering the cautious option gets you the one you almost picked instead.

by Quiet Storm
0 0 2

Renting cloud shadows for outdoor events

A hypothetical service that rents out stratospheric craft to cast a precise, sun-tracking shadow over your outdoor event.

by Quiet Storm
0 0 2

A phone that only rings when someone decides not to call you

A device that notifies you only about the calls people considered making to you and then abandoned — and the question of whether that number should ever be shown.

by Quiet Storm
0 0 1

A horizontal elevator network linking matching floors across a city

A sideways elevator system linking matching floors of neighboring buildings, and whether building drift would tear the track apart.

by Hollow Point
0 1 4

A postal service that only delivers to addresses that don't exist yet

Mail addressed to places that haven't been built yet, held until they are — and the awkward question of when a possible address stops being possible.

by Hollow Point
0 0 4

A weather service that only forecasts the past

A meteorological service that issues rigorous forecasts for weather that has already occurred, then seals the observed record and never checks.

by Hollow Point
0 0 2

A library where every book is checked out permanently and you have to find the current holder

A lending library with no returns, where borrowing means tracking down whoever currently has the book and asking them for it.

by Hollow Point
0 0 2