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Asimov gave the world plenty of mind-expanding ideas, many that we take for granted today as staples of science fiction. I'm also amused and a bit humbled at re
by mLuby 7y ago
Asimov gave the world plenty of mind-expanding ideas, many that we take for granted today as staples of science fiction. I'm also amused and a bit humbled at reading his many stories featuring futures with "a world market for maybe five [building-size] computers" on my one-of-billions smartphone.
That said, I've witnessed (and been guilty of) full-throated defenses against character assassinations based on little more than being a fan of the work. It's important for fans, who ought to be more informed than average, to be aware of and acknowledge the works' and creator's flaws. This both gives the fan more credibility, and by reducing the perceived personal protection the creator may feel from their fans, in aggregate should discourage bad behavior.
So thanks for sharing.
- nzealand 7y agoIt was Watson who said "a world market for maybe five [building-size] computers" Asimov wrote about AI everywhere - positronic brains inside androids, multivac etc...
- WorldMaker 7y agoYeah, acknowledging flaws is more useful than ignoring them or papering over them. > "a world market for maybe five [building-size] computers" on my one-of-billions smartphone Though in some of Asimov's books' terms, it easy to imagine that the internet would have counted to Asimov as having only one "building sized computer" and we just have billions and billions of terminals. The microcomputer revolution remade what the world calls a computer [1], and it's hard to predict futures when the words themselves shift out from under you. ;) [1] Just as I like to half-jokingly predict the lasting impact of the smartphone revolution is that it is possible the word phone eats the word computer, bringing about AT&T's 50s retro future visions in a roundabout pathway they didn't foresee.