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Pipboy explanation.[]
The way I see it, there are 2 possible explanations in a "Computers are never miniaturised" world for the pipboy.
One is that the pipboy could simply be a wireless terminal to a computer somewhere else. Likely in an orbital satilite seeing as that would certainly have survived the nuclear attack and would have coverage outside of the vaults. This explanation is somewhat attractive as it is consistant with the terminals in Fallout 3 which essentially makes the pipboy the "laptop" of the fallout universe to their "desktops". This also explains how the terminals in fallout 3 have server access when all the visible above-ground wiring is destroyed.
The other possibility is that the pipboy taps into the user's central nervious system and uses it to augment its own data capabilities. This explanation is also consistant with fallout 3 (you cannot remove the pipboy 3000, and it's not explaned why that would be designed in). This explanation helps with how the pipboy can pick up on certain bits of information actively (it simply plucks it from your own memory).
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- It's a possible theory, the second bit, but when you think it about it a little more, it's... not as likely. "SPOILER AHEAD, PEOPLE" You need to remember that the 101 Dweller was not originally born in the Vault- if there are any physical, surgically implanted augmentations necessary to allow PipBoy usage through something as complex as the CNS, then you'd probably have to get them in-the-vault, and they'd have to remain consistent through age, making it unreasonable to pick one up at the age of 10. And tapping into the CNS through the arm?
- well it's not a surgical procedure in the traditional sense, it's more like a "Surgury in a can" kinda procedure as seen in fallout 3. "Hi there, here's your pipboy, oh and you can NEVER take it off" kinda deal, I mean in fallout 1 and 2 there are scrappers and other people (including the brotherhood of steel) who would be VERY interested in owning a portable unit capable of doing what the pipboy could, why you can't sell it to them (short of citing game mecanics) is easily explained by "It's attached to me". Also the Lone Wanderer while not born IN the vault was born in a technologically (relitively) advanced area to a medical doctor and was relocated to the vault before her second birthday. At any time in Rivet city or shortly after arriving at vault 101 she would still be young enough to have any "Pre-surgury" prior to the implementation -The accountless avenger
- I'm not really buying either explanation so I'll offer up the 3rd, which is the canned response. "Science works differently in the Fallout universe." Fallout 3, and the entire fallout universe, are not "Hard" science fiction; the focus is on the fiction, not on the science. Things there do not work as they do here; they work as if the stuff people believed about future science in the 40s and 50s was actually correct. This means their idea of miniaturization is "smaller vacuum tubes" and stuff like that. Keep in mind that in the 40s and 50s, such things were in fact a reality, prior to the transistor revolution. RCA created a vacuum tube called a 'Nuvistor' in 1959 that was small enough to use in a Pip-Boy type application, and we're talking about vacuum tubes with 100 years more R&D in the Fallout universe.Bsdasym 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
It's fiction, anyway. The G.E.C.K. doesn't make a lick of sense, either, but it's still fun.--68.111.251.45 19:58, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
- The Chosen One was a tribal and used his ancestor's Pip-Boy without any problems, so it can't require any surgery. And the earliest models weren't even attached to your wrist. Ausir 23:35, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
- True they werent attached to your wrist, but you never do get to see if it's attached to anything else. I still believe the mere fact that you're unable to sell the nifty gismo off to somebody means that it may have some kinda CNS input and may have some kinda "Surgury in a can" kinda effect, (you pick up a dead guy's pipboy and it implants itself into you kinda deal) -Accountless Avenger
Complete Amateur Note: Has anyone noticed the Pipboy screensaver? I got it on Fallout 1.2 with alarm mode turned on when I left the computer for a while. Sweet! I think it's worth mentioning in the Pipboy article.
360 bug?[]
I May just be being dense, but I can't seem to find a way to scroll notes in the Pip Boy on 360.
---Use the right analog stick to scroll.
Inconsistent[]
Did you notice in Fallout 3 only the vault 101 dwellers wear a pipboy ? None of the other vaults dwellers. Ok, but the vault was sealed 200 years ago and None in the world had a chance to see a Pip Boy or know its purpose They don't only seem familiar with the device but know how to use it, access informations, add informations, read them and so on. There is no protection on what should be a personnal device, unlike any computer in game. But it is impossible to remove the Pipboy from the body of any character. The Pip Boy comes in 2 parts, the glove and the bracer. We have no clue of the use of each of the parts but at the beginning, the overseer brings only the bracer to the character.
The "Nobody else inside the vault wears a pipboy" is probably due to only those with Maintainance jobs requiring them
- Err, I think there's a contradiction: this wiki states that Operation Anchorage is started from an outpost controlled by Outcasts. Near the simulation pod, in a room is the corpse of "Garry 23" from V-108. Apparently, the Outcasts attempted to convince him to do the simulation for them but when he didn't yield, his arm was cut off to remove his PipBoy.--Amitakartok 16:53, 29 April 2009 (UTC)
pipboy in new vegas[]
ok, i have a dumb question: will there acctually be a pipboy on the player in NV? i know you can see a pipboy on the A7 character from the trailer, but i dont know if the player will have one. any thoughts?
also, i tried to write this on the fourm, but it wouldnt let me type :P
Fn6000 20:35, March 21, 2010 (UTC)
confusion over pipboys[]
So, there's the Pip-Boy 2000 and the Pip-Boy 3000? OK, I get that the 3000 is the more advanced model, but why didn't ALL the Vaults get the most up-to-date model (I KNOW that the Vaults were all designed to fail spectacularly, but having outdated Pip-Boys doesn't seem to be a part of that design)? Did only the East Coast facilities get the new model, or was there a last minute upgrade and the new equipment wasn't shipped to the West Coast in time?
Also, I'm unclear as to whether the 2000s were arm-mounted or if it was a tricorder type device. And one last question; were ALL vault dwellers' Pip-Boys permanently sealed to their arms, or was it just the people of Vault 101 since they would never be leaving anyway (well, I guess the presence of one of the Gary clones in the Operation Anchorage add-on answers that one somewhat)? I find it hard to believe that the people in the control Vaults (the ones designed to perform exactly as advertised) would be subjected to wearing that thing on their arm for the rest of their lives. And does that mean that the West Coast Vault dwellers who only have the 2000 models NOT have Pip-Boys attached to them permanently? Argh, so inconsistent! Sorry if these questions have been asked before.Son of God-Enel 03:07, August 13, 2010 (UTC)
- It's not really about the Coasts, but about the games, obviously. Basically, Bethesda just needed some interface for their game, which would look "cooler" than the one in the classic Fallouts and so Pip-Boy 3000 was born. The way they introduced the device into the lore of the series (not explaining where it came from, making all NPC have the 3000 versions only, etc.) is just downright pathetic, and yes, I'm going to complain about that even though its not explained in the other games either. And now the New Vegas Pip-Boy will surely have to be the 3000 one (as the game is a mere clone of F3), distorting the assumed fact that 2000s were West Coast exclusive models even more.
- By the way, when Fallout 4 comes out, you'll surely be able to witness the Pip-Boy 4000. Probably also created pre-war, that all the characters of previous games just happened to fail to encounter. Made by Bethesda. --TheBearPaw 07:54, August 13, 2010 (UTC)
I meant in-universe. The real life explanation is pretty easy to figure out on one's own, but it's not particularly interesting. I'm talking about an in-universe explanation for why the different Vaults got different models of Pip-Boys despite them all being issued at the same time.Son of God-Enel 18:24, August 15, 2010 (UTC)
- i think the pipboy 3000 lasts longer so the longer the vault was meant to stay closed the longer the device needed to last. Or it could have something to do with the price of the average 3000, they may not have had the resources to supply the most advanced model to all the vaults. ralok 18:31, August 15, 2010 (UTC)
Light?[]
How do you get it to make the light in Fallout 3, PS3 version? It's always so dark in ruined buildings I can barely see!
ANSWER: -Hold "B" on Xbox 360, I'm assuming you hold "O/circle" for the PS3.
PIP is an acronym[]
It stands for "Personal Information Processor". Shouldn't it be all caps? Hell, it even says so right in the article. YuriKaslov 20:57, April 7, 2011 (UTC)
- It's not always used in caps in the game so I don't really see the problem. Most articles here don't even follow proper capitalization in the article titles either. Great Mara 21:41, April 7, 2011 (UTC)
- Yes, I know that (and I still think the person who thought that up was a child who doesn't understand the English language), but the prior precedent was that if it has all capitalized names (ex., ARCHIMEDES) it was to be decapped unless it was an acronym, which PIP is.
- I'm fairly certain there are a few points in some of the games where PIP is capitalized, too. YuriKaslov 21:49, April 7, 2011 (UTC)
Black Sabbath Dehumanizer album cover has a Pip-Boy on it![]
Am I first to notice that the cover of Black Sabbath's 1992 album Dehumanizer looks a lot like a pip boy? Coincidence? I think not.
High-Power (talk) 17:30, September 7, 2012 (UTC)High-Power
Little resemblence. Energy X ∞ 17:33, September 7, 2012 (UTC)
And now it's real!!!
Zypad® WR1100 rugged wrist-worn personal computer [1]
Power Source[]
Do they ever mention just what powers these things? Great Mara (talk) 20:36, March 17, 2013 (UTC)
Well, judging by the availability of microfusion technology in the fallout universe, I would guess that it is powered by some kind of internal microfusion cell, or MF breeder. Sergeant SteelHooves (talk) 19:02, January 28, 2014 (UTC)
Commodore C64 referenced on Fallout 4 pip-boy[]
The Fallout 4 Pip-Boy has exactly the same amount of Ram memory as Commodore C64 home computer. At the boot-up screen both show 64K ram with 38911 bytes free. Looks a lot like this can't be accident, most likely set on purpose.