2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) top sellers with 300,000 hardcover copies and 1.75 million first paperback editions printed. 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's and published after the release of the film. Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various short stories by Clarke, including "The Sentinel" (written in 1948 for a BBC competition, but first published in 1951 under the title "Sentinel of Eternity").
Technologies in 2001: A Space Odyssey in high-tech aircraft like the Boeing 777, but have also been employed in space shuttles, the first being "Atlantis" in 1985. Rudimentary voice-controlled computing began in the early 1980s with the SoftVoice Computer System and existed in more sophisticated form by the early 2000s, although not as sophisticated as depicted in the film. The first picture phone was demonstrated at the 1964 New York World's Fair; however, due to the bandwidth limitations of telephone lines, personal video communication did not succeed commercially and has only been practical over broadband internet connections. Personal (audio) wireless telephones were ubiquitous in 2001, and