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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Butler-Valet Robot | ||
| A gentleman's servant, roboticized. |
| "I have your butler-valet combo here all fitted with the special custom-built adjustments you ordered..."
The man in the visored helmet inserted a convoluted length of iridium - an official Robot Master Key - into the back of the robot's neck. Two full clanking turns and the machinery purred. Eyebrow ridges clinked upward. Multi-linked lips pursed questioningly. "My fiancee, Josephine Lilly... designed it," Lester told him proudly. "Her idea of what a butler-valet combo should look like - sort of in the ancient English tradition..." |
| Technovelgy from The Jester,
by William Tenn. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1951 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the electrical valet from The Lord of Tranerica (1939) by Stanton A. Coblentz, the robant from The Impossible Planet (1953) by Philip K. Dick, the consumption robots from The Midas Plague (1954) by Frederik Pohl, the robutler from The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970) by Harry Harrison and the autobutle from The Godmakers (1972) by Frank Herbert.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Jester
More Ideas
and Technology by William Tenn
Tech news articles related to The Jester
Tech news articles related to works by William Tenn
Butler-Valet Robot-related
news articles:
- Toyota's Human Support Robot - Your Robot Butler
- A.L.O. Robot Butler Serves You At Aloft Hotel
| DIY Robotic Content Farming |
| Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet |
| Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot |
| Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin |
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'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
