A Look at Ender’s Monitor

This week’s production entry over at Ender’s Game Blog gives us a better look at Ender himself… sort of. This photo is an image of Ender’s monitor, which we learn at the start of the book is how the military monitors the children they’re screening for Battle School. Both Peter and Valentine had their monitors removed and were allowed to remain on Earth to grow up with their parents, but then they were given permission to have a third child.

The book begins as Ender has his monitor removed, which ends up being a painful ordeal, despite reassurances that he won’t feel a thing.

The novel was amazingly prescient about a great many things: remote controlled drone wars, the internet, the influence of blogging, hand held computing tablets like the I-Pad, and of course, electronic surveillance implants.  Implanted tracking and monitoring chips are no longer a science fiction concept.  They exist now.  And one day, they may be as advanced as the monitor implanted into Ender, which allows Colonel Graff to “see through his eyes” and know:  HE’S THE ONE.

It’s funny how they mention the iPad because that’s what came to mind when I re-read Ender’s Game last year. I marveled at how the desks seemed to be just like the tablets of today, with the students sending IMs to each other in creative ways. It would be an interesting marketing tactic if they were to develop a smartphone game mirroring Giant’s Drink. (hopefully without the suicidal tendencies feature)

Source: Ender’s Game Blog