What is the name of the short story by Isaac Asimov about a post apocalyptic automated house? The story tells of an automated house running like clock work even though there is no longer anyone alive to be working for. In the end the house burns down and can’t save itself because it wasted all the resources on feeding a family that was already dead. Anyone know what the name of the story is?
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Come_Soft_Rains_(short_story)
"Set in August 4, 2026 in the city of Allendale, California, There Will Come Soft Rains details the daily tasks of a robotic house after its inhabitants (Mr and Mrs McClellan and their son and daughter) have died in a nuclear war. The house is still undamaged, fully automated and sensitive to its owners and their requests and needs. It continues to serve the dead family, unaware of their absence, though aware of other external and internal disruptions such as the weather and birds attempting to land on it. Throughout the story, the house makes breakfast, disposes of it uneaten, and performs various domestic tasks. The house communicates via a set of recorded and synthesized voices, starting a morning wakeup call at 7:00 AM and at 7:15 it announces the date 3 times in the kitchen.
The title comes from Sara Teasdale’s poem, There Will Come Soft Rains which is selected and recited by the audio system of the house to entertain the already nonexisting Mrs McClellan at 9:05 PM in the study. The poem talks about the extinction of mankind, thus giving a dramatic power to the actual events of the story.
Only one living thing makes an appearance in the story: the family dog, which had been slowly dying from radiation poisoning. It makes its way back to the house only to die; its corpse is then swiftly removed by the house’s automated cleaning robots.
The author at one point mentions the family’s silhouettes which were permanently burned onto the side of the house (as seen at Hiroshima) when they were vaporized by the fireball flash of the atomic blast.
In the end, the house catches on fire when a tree branch falls through a window and smashes into bottled cleaning solvents, which shatter and spill onto the stove. Though the house attempts to save itself with water and chemical extinguishers, its years of meaningless service have left it understocked for emergencies and it quickly succumbs to the blaze. As another day dawns, the house has been reduced to a smoking pile of rubble. Only one wall remains standing and as its built-in sensors detect the sunbeams, the last and lone recorded voice keeps tolling out the new day’s date over and over again."
January 18th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
This is actually a short story by Ray Bradbury called "There Will Come Soft Rains"
References :
January 18th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Come_Soft_Rains_(short_story)
"Set in August 4, 2026 in the city of Allendale, California, There Will Come Soft Rains details the daily tasks of a robotic house after its inhabitants (Mr and Mrs McClellan and their son and daughter) have died in a nuclear war. The house is still undamaged, fully automated and sensitive to its owners and their requests and needs. It continues to serve the dead family, unaware of their absence, though aware of other external and internal disruptions such as the weather and birds attempting to land on it. Throughout the story, the house makes breakfast, disposes of it uneaten, and performs various domestic tasks. The house communicates via a set of recorded and synthesized voices, starting a morning wakeup call at 7:00 AM and at 7:15 it announces the date 3 times in the kitchen.
The title comes from Sara Teasdale’s poem, There Will Come Soft Rains which is selected and recited by the audio system of the house to entertain the already nonexisting Mrs McClellan at 9:05 PM in the study. The poem talks about the extinction of mankind, thus giving a dramatic power to the actual events of the story.
Only one living thing makes an appearance in the story: the family dog, which had been slowly dying from radiation poisoning. It makes its way back to the house only to die; its corpse is then swiftly removed by the house’s automated cleaning robots.
The author at one point mentions the family’s silhouettes which were permanently burned onto the side of the house (as seen at Hiroshima) when they were vaporized by the fireball flash of the atomic blast.
In the end, the house catches on fire when a tree branch falls through a window and smashes into bottled cleaning solvents, which shatter and spill onto the stove. Though the house attempts to save itself with water and chemical extinguishers, its years of meaningless service have left it understocked for emergencies and it quickly succumbs to the blaze. As another day dawns, the house has been reduced to a smoking pile of rubble. Only one wall remains standing and as its built-in sensors detect the sunbeams, the last and lone recorded voice keeps tolling out the new day’s date over and over again."
References :