# The vidiot

By Ib Melchior.

The vidiot by Ib Melchior is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It centers on a television technician who accidentally discovers a way to see through walls, raising questions about surveillance, power, and moral responsibility. An ambitious TV “vidiot,” Don Hartley, is testing special-effects gear during a space-opera rehearsal when a shorted circuit turns a matte into a window that peers through the studio’s backdrop, walls, and out to the street. Mapping the effect, he realizes he can build a single camera—the “Hartleycam”—that could penetrate any barrier. Tempted by fame and fortune, he also envisions a nightmare world of total, inescapable observation and authoritarian control. After a troubled day, he chooses restraint: he visits his executive to confess only the equipment damage, accepts a second chance at work, and keeps his blueprints to himself, concluding that the world is not yet ready for his invention. (Summary by Project Gutenberg, written by machine.)

- Language: English
- Illustrator: Mel Hunter
- Subjects: Science fiction; Short stories; Inventions -- Fiction; Television programs -- Fiction; Cameras -- Fiction

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From Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.