Robbie
From Free net encyclopedia
- "Robbie" can also refer to the pop singer Robbie Williams.
Robbie (1940) is science-fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in Super Science Stories magazine as Strange Playfellow, a title that was editorially chosen and described as "distasteful" by Asimov.
This story is centred around the technophobia that surrounds robots, and how it is misplaced. This is not such a strange place to start, when you see that almost every science fiction story to feature a robot up until publication of this one was of the 'robot turns against creator' theme.
In 1998, a primitive and mute RB series robot, named Robbie, is placed with the Weston family as a nursemaid for the daughter Gloria. Her mother, however, is not convinced that robots are safe and decides that they must take the robot back. Since Gloria was so attached to the robot, she ceases smiling and is constantly unhappy. Her mother decides that Gloria needs a change of scenery to help her forget about Robbie, so the Westons travel to New York City. The mother’s views change when Robbie saves Gloria from a potentially fatal accident during the family’s visit to the US Robots' factory.
The version published in the book I, Robot is slightly revised from the original text, and includes a brief paragraph which depicts the first appearance (in the stories' internal chronology) of Susan Calvin.
| Included in: | Series: | Followed by: |
|---|---|---|
| I, Robot The Complete Robot | Robot Series Foundation Series | Runaround |