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"Science fiction is what scientists would do if they could - if they had enough grant money, enough time, and enough brains to do the wonderful things they would like to do."
- Greg Bear
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| Manufactured Wife | ||
| A wife made to order, programmed to meet her husband's requirements. |
| "Now, young man, what can I do for you? Want a life-companion, a pleasant one? Man of means, no doubt, and can enjoy yourself; a little fun now and then with the boys and no harm at all -- none in the least... Now, sir, I can get you up any style you want -- wax, but can't be detected."
"Do you mean to say you manufacture a woman out of wax, who will talk?" "That's just what I do; you give me the subjects you most enjoy talking upon, and tell me what kind of a looking wife you want, and leave the rest to me, and you will never regret it. I will furnish as many 'phones' as you wish; most men don't care for such a variety for a wife -- too much talk, you know." |
| Technovelgy from A Wife Manufactured to Order,
by Alice W. Fuller. Published by The Arena in 1895 Additional resources -
|
Here's what happens when our young bachelor picks up his new "wife":
"... "Bless me, I really believe he thinks her alive." Then to me: "To be sure, to be sure, but you only have a short time before going to the minister's, and I must show you how to adjust her. When you get home" -- and he chuckled again -- "you can be just as sentimental as you please, but just now we will attend to business. Here are a box of tubes made to talk as you wished them. They are adjusted so. Place the one you wish in your sleeve. You can carelessly touch her right here if there is any one around. Here is a spring in each hand and the tips of her fingers. I will give you a book of instructions, and you will soon learn to arrange her with very little effort, just to suit yourself, and I am sure you will be very happy..."
Compare to the
robotess from R.U.R. (1920) by Karel Capek, the
psychophonic nurse from The Psychophonic Nurse (1928) by David H. Keller, the
teleoperated robot surrogate from The Robot and the Lady (1938) by Manly Wade Wellman, the
mechanical bride from The Mechanical Bride (1954) by Fritz Leiber, the
maid-robot from The Midas Plague (1954) by Frederik Pohl and the
Nanny from Nanny (1955) by Philip K. Dick.
Alighting from the carriage the door was opened, and I was ushered into the presence of the most beautiful creature I had ever beheld. The hands extended towards mine, the lips opened, and a low, sweet voice said, "Dear Charles, how glad I am you have come!" I stood spellbound, and only a chuckle from Mr. Sharper brought me to my senses.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from A Wife Manufactured to Order
More Ideas
and Technology by Alice W. Fuller
Tech news articles related to A Wife Manufactured to Order
Tech news articles related to works by Alice W. Fuller
Manufactured Wife-related
news articles:
- Roxxxy Sex Robot From TrueCompanion
- Life-sized Duplicate Of Deceased Girlfriend Manufactured
- Atlas DRC Robot Now Untethered
- Do You, Human, Take This Robot...?
- Relationship-Practicing Robot From Turing Robot
- China Building Robot Wives
- Pleasure Model Replicants Now Available
| Robots Repair And Modify Themselves |
| Robot Janitors Get To Work |
| Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves |
| Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons |
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'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
