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"The wealth of the universe is all over your head. We need to take command of the solar system to gain that wealth..."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Robot Waiter | ||
| Robotic restaurant servitor. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of this phrase.
| We made our way to a grill one level below the theatre floor, near the moving sidewalk. I ordered some chops, toast and wine for two. "To think," said Miss Dolly, her face flushed, while waiting for the robot waiter, "what a marvelous show, solely with robot artists." I was glad to perceive that the entertainment had been so fascinating to her. It did seem inconceivable that anything mechanical could act with such precision without one flaw. At this juncture, the smiling face of the female robot waitress interrupted my musings and Miss Dolly's enthusiastic comments. The supper was delicious. "I am grateful for these robots, Alonzo," Miss Dolly quaintly remarked. "And, why?" 1 asked her. "One does not have to be, er . . . jealous of you fascinating men even though the waitresses are so charming." |
| Technovelgy from Flamingo: A Drama of A.D. 1950,
by Clarence Edward Heller. Published by Amazing Stories in 1930 Additional resources -
|
Schachner and Zagat used this phrase just a year later in The Death Cloud (1931):
Philip K. Dick describes robot waiters and servitors that seem to utilize the ceiling rather than the floor space reserved for humans in The World Jones Made (1956):
We sat, Eric Bolton and I, at a parapet table atop the 200-story General Aviation Building. The efficient robot waiter of the Sky Club had cleared away the remnants of an epicurean meal. Only a bowl of golden fruit remained—globes of nectar picked in the citrus groves of California that morning.
Robot servants, suspended from the ceiling, wheeled here and there serving drinks and collecting glasses.
The robot waiter dropped like a spider from the ceiling, and Nina turned her attention to ordering.
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and Technology from Flamingo: A Drama of A.D. 1950
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