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"it slowly dawned on me that the landscape of science is maybe what interests people a great deal in science fiction."
- Gregory Benford

Self-Opening Box  
  Don't show this to Apple.  

Unboxing videos have become de rigueur these days; this box would really take the cake.

He kicked at the great box disconsolately, "Well, if you won't open, you won't open."

As if smarting under the kick, the box opened. A cut appeared on the upper surface, widened rapidly and folded the top back and down on other side like a valise. Sam clapped his forehead and addressed a rapid prayer to every god from Set to Father Divine. Then he remembered what he'd said.

"Close," he suggested.

The box closed, once more as smooth as a baby's anatomy.

"Open."

The box opened.

Technovelgy from Child's Play, by William Tenn.
Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1947
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