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Every Device Is a Swiss Army Knife: Difference between revisions
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All devices have mass customization.
Remember the good old days when a phone was just for calling people? Remember when game consoles and handhelds were for precisely games? Not so anymore. In a more contemporary (and/or futuristic) setting where folks have high expectations in terms of technology, any device that doesn't have multiple functions beyond its initial one is better of being classed off as Crapola Tech even when it genuinely does work. The general logic of the "jack of all trades" convenience being superior to the specialized frequently plays a part in this. And on certain occasions, [[Spy Fiction]] will feature technology of this
See [[Do-Anything Robot]] for the humanoid example of this. Related to [[Everything Is Online]]. See also [[Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids]]. See [[Shoe Phone]] for when its primary function differs from the one you'd expect from its appearance. You might see a lot of [[Swiss Army Weapon]]s and [[Swiss Army Gun]]s in a setting which uses this trope extensively. Taken to the extreme it might result in a [[Green Lantern Ring]].
Contrast [[When All You Have Is a Hammer]] which is where a device is used in this way regardless of its actual flexibility.
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* A [[Stanislaw Lem]] short story about rival companies making more and more complex [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1981/11/30/1981_11_30_044_TNY_CARDS_000332469 washing machines].
* Subverted in [[Larry Niven]]'s short story "[[wikipedia:The Soft Weapon|The Soft Weapon]]". Archeologists find a weapon from a [[Precursors|precursor race]] that has multiple functions. The heroes eventually realize that this weapon is much too complicated for front-line troops, so it must be a spy's weapon. They then trick the villains into activating its [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]].
* Obligatory ''[[Discworld]]'' example: the Lancrastian Army Knife in ''[[
** A Swiss Army Knife with an alethiometer attachment sounds pretty useful, actually.
** Its only weakness is that it needs a wheelbarrow to move around.
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* One episode of ''[[Time Squad]]'' had Buck getting a brand-new laser gun with a myriad of functions...so many, in fact, that he couldn't figure out how to make it shoot lasers.
* Every device available to ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' had this nature.
* [[Larry Niven]] adapted his short story "The Soft Weapon", mentioned above under "Literature" into an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'' entitled "The Slaver Weapon", which played out more or less the same.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* You can now{{when}} get a Swiss Army Knife with a USB thumb drive and LED light [http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/ad41/here\].
** You can also get a timepiece, a thermometer, an altimeter, and (in the Presentation Master model
* Modern [[PC]]s in general.
** The Kindle Fire can get a library of books so extensive St Thomas Aquinas would have been sorely tempted to kill to possess it. It also has the capacity thousands of songs (downloaded and streamed), videos and tv, games, and screensavers of all kinds for fifty dollars. As well as a tricky but definite internet connection. You can leave it on playing all night or have one showing a screensaver another playing music while you read from the same one (some screensaver
* How often do you use your smartphone to call someone, as opposed to texting, surfing the web, taking pictures, listening to music, playing games, getting directions...?
* Apple achieved success with the iPhone and iPad by deliberately avoiding the worst aspects of this trope. Both iProducts defeated more powerful and versatile competitors by offering ''only'' the most popular functions out of the box and streamlining them to be as user friendly as possible rather than trying to 'open a whole new world of possibilities' like other companies' flagships.
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* Leathermans are known for making multitools like a butterfly knife (I.E. a knife where the two sides of the hilt fold all the way back to form a sheath) but having a pliers instead of a knife as the primary tool. They are perhaps not as attractive as Victorinox pieces but they have a good rep of their own.
* These are a whole bunch of reasons to carry a pocketknife (and not just that it's [[Rule of Cool|kind of cool]]): [https://knife-depot.com/pages/101-uses-for-the-pocket-knife See here].
** There are even more not mentioned. The corkscrew is effectively a bayonet mount and can fit any modular tool made to mate with it. So far Victorinox has only made the mini-screwdriver with that in mind but there is a potential product line for that. Furthermore anyone with a bent toward smithcraft can make their own modular tools. A quicker and easier way to use the corkscrew is as a second fastener. It will hold basically anything that can be put on a keychain without slipping when closed and is easier to open when extended then a split-ring. The mini-screwdriver doubles as a seal allowing you to carry keys,etc, with the corkscrew extended if you prefer and this later method will allow you to lay a key snugly against the knife.
* Entrenching tools are some of the most massive multi-tools and have been from Roman times. Modern incarnations can be used as an ax as well as a pick, a saw, a whatever, depending on which components are used. Some come in modular form that can be unscrewed to use a different head, and/or have hollow hafts that can contain such things as a survival kit.
* For the matter of that, almost every device in use can trace back to a hard bludgeoning instrument (like a rock), a sharp point (like a shaped flint), a lever (like a stick), or fire (from some sort of fuel and igniter plus a container) or some combination thereof. Except perhaps clothing which is made with these things anyway.
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[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
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