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"Does it open a new horizon for my thinking? Does it lead me to think new kinds of thoughts, that I would not otherwise perhaps have thought at all? These qualities are what [make] science fiction ...unique."
- Frederik Pohl

Robant Bill Collector  
  A robot designed to collect overdue bills, no matter what.  

"Say, Mr. Sweetscent! Just a moment, sir!" The twangy - and highly repellent - voice of a robant; Eric stopped reluctantly and now the thing coasted up to him, all arms and legs flapping energetically. "Mr. Sweetscent of Tijuana Fur and Dye Corporation?"

"I have a bill..." it whipped out a folded white slip from its metal pouch. "Your wife, Mrs. Katherine Sweetscent, charged this three months ago on her Dreamland Happy Times For All account... I regret delaying you but it is, ahem, illegal." It eyed him alertly.

Technovelgy from Now Wait For Last Year, by Philip K. Dick.
Published by Doubleday in 1966
Additional resources -

The term "robant" refers to a mechanism that is capable of completely autonomous activity.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Now Wait For Last Year
  More Ideas and Technology by Philip K. Dick
  Tech news articles related to Now Wait For Last Year
  Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick

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Science Fiction in the News

CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
'A cybercab dogged their heels...'

SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'

Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'

Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'

Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'

Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'

Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'

Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'

SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'

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