Forty-four years ago

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Date: Sun, 29 May 1994 13:17:17 -0700
From: Mike Godwin <mnemonic () well sf ca us>




    'You got a Logic in your house.  It looks like a vision-receiver
  used to, only it's got keys instead of dials and you punch the keys
  for what you wanna get.  It's hooked into the tank, which has the
  Carson Circuit all fixed up with relays.  Say you punch in "Station
  SNAFU" on your Logic.  Relays in the tank take over an' whatever
  vision-program SNAFU is telecastin' comes on your Logic's screen.
  Or you punch "Sally Hancock's Phone" and' the screen blinks an'
  sputters and' you're hooked up with the Logic in her house an' if
  somebody answers you got a vision-phone connection.  But besides
  that, if you punch for the weather forecast or who won today's race
  at Hialeah or who was mistress of the White House durin' Garfield's
  administration or what is PDQ and R sellin' for today, that comes on
  the screen too.  The relays in the tank do it.  The tank is a big
  buildin' full of all the facts in creation an' all the recorded
  telecasts that ever was made -- an' it's hooked in with all the
  other tanks all over the country -- an' everything you wanna know or
  see or hear, you punch for it an' you get it.  Very convenient.
  Also it does math for you, an' keeps books, an' acts as consultin'
  chemist, physicist, astronomer an' tea-leaf reader, with a "Advice
  to the Lovelorn" thrown in. ...'


> From the story "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster, 1950.


Later adapted as an episode of the "Dimension X" radio series.