MovieChat Forums > The Time Machine (1960) Discussion > Time machine owner's manual

Time machine owner's manual

posted 11 years ago by carlsez_1
9 replies | jump to latest

Inspired by Youtube postings of people who have built full size working replicas of the time machine and are offering them for sale, I thought of what an owner's manual might look like, based on how it operates in the movie. I invite others' contributions and edits.

Time Machine® by Wells-Pal Industries

Owners Manual/Tips for Operation:
1. To operate move lever upward to go forward in time, downward to go backward. If you are not noticing movement increase speed while paying closer attention to burning candles and clocks.
2. Movement through time may cause intoxicating effects. This may induce some operators to increase their speed. This is normal.
3. Time travel will allow you to observe acquaintances' behavior in an accelerated manner, which may give you pause to comment on their personal habits.
4. When traveling forward be prepared for changes in fashion as these may challenge your sensibilities.
5. Avoid prolonged periods of observing the technical achievements of the future as this can delay your escape from the misuse of these technologies.
6. To avoid serious injury from molten lava make sure machine is operating normally. Do not slow down or stop machine until solidified rock has fully eroded.
7. Ease lever slowly, never make abrupt stops. Doing so can cause instability and may result in being thrown from machine.
8. Do not leave machine unattended for long periods of time. Wells-Pal Industries is not responsible for machines lost or stolen by subhuman cannibals.
9. ?

PS: It's a slow day.

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[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mlaughlin22 11 years ago

How did the Time Machine work? And its power source ?

Fix the error reports on this site

[–] carlsez_1 11 years ago

I always thought is was just powered by plain old electricity. They did have lead acid batteries back then.

As far as how it works, that is left almost purely up to the imagination. I gave it my interpretation in an earlier post. I think the spinning wheel has some sort of property that can actually 'push' against the three dimensional world and thus propel the machine along the forth dimension, or time as George defines the forth dimension.

Auto-Tune is not a genre, please stop treating it as such.

[–] hifijohn 10 years ago

it would be interesting to think about it.is there a low fuel indicator?? how many years does it get to the gallon or KW of power?? does it take more or less energy to go forwards than backwards?? how fast can it go?? years or decades per second??
it should have some sort of anti collision device. image stopping at a time when there was a bird flying by, now you have a bird stuck in your head or chest.I always imagined a powerful shockwave the machine created like a plane that went faster than the speed of sound and machine that went faster than the speed of time would create a powerful shockwave.

[–] Shuggy 10 years ago

There seems to be some important machinery below and behind the seat.

Perhaps it stores temporal energy® going forward, and uses it for the return journey (or vice versa), thereby conserving power.

(I didn't specify the size or colour of that mark...)

All that is visible must grow beyond itself...
http://www.cafepress.co.uk/ahua/8761658

[–] coreycitn63 10 years ago

The Time Machine works on a similar principle of the Enterprise warp drive. Instead of a warp bubble the time machine creates a temporal bubble where normal time exists and allow air for the traveller to breathe. This also alows the traveller not to age or deage.

[–] Shuggy 10 years ago

"deage"? I think the word, when we need it, should be youthen.

All that is visible must grow beyond itself...
http://www.cafepress.co.uk/ahua/8761658

[–] virgiltx 10 years ago

It is important to note that the handle did not simply have a glass knob for decorative purposes--the glass is a special crystal that actually supplies the power, according to the featurette.

Also, we are not sure that the Time Machine can go back into the past--although it can go back after going forward, but we've only seen it go back to a time after it left. If a time traveler simply went back into the past, he would go back to before he left, and that would be strange.

And could a TT go back to before the TM existed?

Maybe these things could just be explained with a warning of unpredictability, and a disclaimer to the effect that the TM company was not responsible for the consequences.

____________________
The story is king.

[–] icaptainchaos 9 years ago

Back to the Owners Manual

*10 If your Time Machine runs out of 'power', just attach a couple of wires to the light bulbs (one to the green bulb and one to the red bulb), then see if you can find a power socket thing & plug them in (obnviously if you are stuck in the 19th century, you're pretty much screwed).

Make sure you get back in the Time Machine quickly (ensuring you have a pretty Eloi female sitting on your lap) or it may well disappear somewhere else without you.

Do not let the Eloi female "drive" the Time Machine, as your insurance will not cover the inevitable accidents that will happen.