Asimov Redeemed! (1160 hits)
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Submitted by gbusman (View user info) at 2004-04-08 18:02:52 EDT
Any true science fiction fan is familiar with the works of the grandfather of science fiction: Isaac Asimov. From the 1940's til the time of his death in 1992, Asimov amassed the most impressive collection of science fiction short stories and novels ever to be published. He created the positronic brain. He is noted in the Oxford English Dictionary as the origin of the word "Robotics." He also coined the three laws of robotics, the most fundamental operating rules of intelligent machines. His stories combine to weave a fascinating future universe in which mankind and machine kind have spread to populate the entire galaxy. In the history of sci-fi there has never been a more important or influential author.
Unfortnately, this great visionary storyteller died with one major regret. In his earlier works, before the widespread use of computers, Asimov wrote many stories about the future of computing and the impact it would have on humanity. At the time, the first analog computers were being used by the government and large businesses. You may recall from history the first computer, ENIAC, which was followed closely by it's successor, UNIVAC. These were massive machines, before the invention of the transistor or the integrated circuit. They filled large rooms with lights, wires, and vacuum tubes, and had enormous cooling systems in place to keep them running. When Asimov wrote his stories, he imagined the computers becomming even bigger. In fact, in much of his writing, the entire earth relied on one enormous computer called Multivac. Multivac was gargantuan, occupying an entire city and requiring a full time staff of engineers to maintain it's parts. Asimov once said his biggest regret was failing to forsee the miniaturization of computers.
But before we call folly to Asimov's vision, let's examine exactly what Multivac's features and functions are. Here are the characteristics of Asimov's Multivac:
-It's huge. Too big for any one person to fully understand it all
-It requires full time attention for maintenance. People are constantly monitoring and fixing it.
-It's dynamic. If some parts are not functioning, the machine compensates until the repairs are made.
-It has remote access stations. Anyone in the world is permitted to go to an access station and ask Multivac anything they want.
-It is all knowing. Multivac collects data from every person in the world. It predicts elections, delegates scarce resources, and analyzes everything from government to energy. It is eventually used to develop the first forms of interstellar travel.
When Asimov died in 1992, it seemed as though such a huge and complicated device was the product of a lack of imagination. People then carried computers in their briefcase with as much computing power as Multivac and their watches could perform more flops than ENIAC.
Yet today, only 12 years later, we look at this list and it is very familiar to us. It is of course the Internet: the insanely complicated all knowing public access hero of information. Some of the finer details are off, true, but the premise of a global knowldege device is an amazingly accurate vision. Even the inventors of the Internet couldn't forsee the incredible phenomenon which it has become. But Isaac Asimov did. If only he were alive today to appreciate his own genius.
-Bus
User Reviews
Submitted by Nobb (user info) at 2004-07-05 05:38:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Good
Submitted by jackfirecat <jackfirecat.at.yahoo.com> at 2004-04-23 22:17:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Excellent piece. Google is Multivac. (using the www, I know). I was making some comment to that effect, checked with google to check that I'd remembered multivac's name right (it's a good few years since I read azimov) and found your article expressing the exact same sentiment! Neat. plus your nice thing about if only he was still with us, which I liked. Thanks for saying it well.
Submitted by iamhewhoisnot (user info) at 2004-04-09 11:10:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
excellent
Submitted by T.chow (user info) at 2004-04-09 07:10:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i lova the asimov
the lucky starr series is the shizznat
Submitted by Freight_Train (user info) at 2004-04-08 23:23:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by bargled (user info) at 2004-04-08 23:17:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The Foundation Series are some of the greatest books of all time.
Fuck Enders Game.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-04-08 21:35:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
w00t.
Submitted by Heimdallsman (user info) at 2004-04-08 20:11:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Here's to Asimov.
--HeimdallsMan
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2004-04-08 19:22:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is clever, well written stuff I never would have thought of.
This is why I come to Uber.
Submitted by gbusman (user info) at 2004-04-08 19:02:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, I can't wait to see I, Robot. I hope it's as good as Bicentennial Man, which I thought was great even though the reviews were only so-so.
-Bus
Submitted by NotApologizing (user info) at 2004-04-08 19:00:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I saw the previews for I, Robot and Will Smith is a cop who didn't think that autonomous, sentient Robots should be built. He arrests a robot and puts it on trial for murder, with the company that created the robot coming to the defense of its' "product".
What comes next, my friends, is a Robot Revolution...
At least that's what they show in the previews. I would hate to think it's just a monologue about the plight of the sentient automoton and how oppressed they are.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:58:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ha ha NotAp,
The eniac was in the smithsonian. I was there one time.
With a camera...
Submitted by I_Have_a_Kristen_Fetish (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:52:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:37:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
long live the bones of napier
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-04-08 18:36:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I remember reading all of the books in the Foundation series, getting hooked, and reading all his short stories, too. I think I've read just about every sci-fi book he's ever written.
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:28:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Razor (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:25:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I thought this was very clever.
By the way, did you hear there's a movie coming out... I, Robot?
Starring, of all people, Will Smith.
I am very curious as to how they are going to stitch together like 20 stories into one. I hope he's the robo-mayor
Submitted by SausageKing (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:21:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Asimov is ok at predicting the future but I think Arthur Clarke is the best. He gets it right so often it's even scary sometimes. Check out the begining of Rendevous With Rama, where an asteroid wipes out Italy on September 11, which becomes a day of imfamy.
Submitted by NotApologizing (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:15:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow Phinch! I am so impressed to type alongside one whose photo is in the Smithsonian!
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-04-08 18:07:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I have a picture of me standing next to the eniac in the smithsonian.