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"The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl

Master-Operator  
  Takes over the functions of many different household robots.  

"And by the way, has your home got an A. E. Master-operator?"

It hadn't. Pathis explained that a Master-operator was new this year, a stupendous advance in scientific engineering. It was designed to take over all the functions of housecleaning and cooking, without its owner having to lift a finger.

"Instead of running around all day, pushing half a dozen different buttons, with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!"

Technovelgy from Cost of Living, by Robert Sheckley.
Published by Galaxy in 1952
Additional resources -

Compare to the master machine from The Revolt of the Machines (1931) by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat).

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Cost of Living
  More Ideas and Technology by Robert Sheckley
  Tech news articles related to Cost of Living
  Tech news articles related to works by Robert Sheckley

Master-Operator-related news articles:
  - Can One Robot Do Many Tasks?

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Science Fiction in the News

The New Habitable Zones Include Asimov's Ribbon Worlds
'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'

Can One Robot Do Many Tasks?
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'

Atlas Robot Makes Uncomfortable Movements
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'

Boring Company Drills Asimov's Single Vehicle Tunnels
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'

Humanoid Robots Tickle The Ivories
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'

A Remarkable Coincidence
'There is a philosophical problem of some difficulty here...'

Cortex 1 - Today A Warehouse, Tomorrow A Calculator Planet
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'

Perching Ambush Drones
'On the chest of drawers something was perched.'

Leader-Follower Autonomous Vehicle Technology
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'

Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'

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