Old Books
Last week, my mother gave me a box loaded with my old school projects and assignments. Wow, my penmanship was terrible. (Yes, it is still bad.)
As I was going down memory lane, it occurred to me that this big pile stands as a landmark to how I used to be. It was crude, unrefined, and full of errors. Still, it was obvious that I had tried really hard, meaning I was doing my absolute best.
So… let’s pretend that in grade school, I published those assignments; perhaps a children’s educational book. If you had a copy today, you would see a big pile of errors, just as I did when I looked at my assignments as an adult.
Now, let’s examine the popular book, I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov. This excellent work was published in 1950 and is now considered a classic, even assigned reading for some English classes. Yet, there are obvious flaws.
Why is a flawed work assigned to students? Like my old homework, it stands as a landmark of what science fiction used to be. Plus, the writing was excellent, which is helpful for discussions (how a good book should be written). If Isaac Asimov were still alive, he would consider this work one of his best and proudly discuss it.
Yet, Isaac Asimov would probably admit his story needs some updating. Why? At the time he wrote that book, he used the best available information about technology, society, writing, and literature. Society has moved on, so today’s readers are well-informed. For example, the “intelligent” robots in I, Robot do not act like the AI we see in ChatGPT.
Thus, today’s writers stand on a foundation laid by the first steps in books like I, Robot. Yet this means the works of today will face the same issues. For example, recall it was popular to say, “You are the weakest link” around the year 2000. Now, this is a dated term, and you can find it in writings from 2000.
The same was true of my homework box. I referred to popular television programs (wow, did I like The Dukes of Hazzard) and discussed what I thought the future would be like. In one assignment, I described how it was easy to connect a microphone to an Apple II computer, which would allow it to operate a car. My idea seemed so simple and obvious. All I needed to do was say, “Drive me to the store.” Yeah…
The big difference from a landmark standpoint is that my flaws occurred privately, whereas a published book allows every modern reader to see them.
Let’s consider my first book. It had so many flaws that a second edition was required. Yet, after that second edition, my book was perfect. Right? I wish!
Modern readers see that books like I, Robot require a proper perspective to enjoy, which means that, in time, my books will have the same issues. A great example is that none of my books has AI as a topic, and as we know, our society is working like mad to come to grips with the tremendous impact.
Will this article be a less-than-perfect example? Only time will tell.
You’re the best -Bill
January 19, 2022 Updated June 06, 2026
As I was going down memory lane, it occurred to me that this big pile stands as a landmark to how I used to be. It was crude, unrefined, and full of errors. Still, it was obvious that I had tried really hard, meaning I was doing my absolute best.
So… let’s pretend that in grade school, I published those assignments; perhaps a children’s educational book. If you had a copy today, you would see a big pile of errors, just as I did when I looked at my assignments as an adult.
Now, let’s examine the popular book, I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov. This excellent work was published in 1950 and is now considered a classic, even assigned reading for some English classes. Yet, there are obvious flaws.
Why is a flawed work assigned to students? Like my old homework, it stands as a landmark of what science fiction used to be. Plus, the writing was excellent, which is helpful for discussions (how a good book should be written). If Isaac Asimov were still alive, he would consider this work one of his best and proudly discuss it.
Yet, Isaac Asimov would probably admit his story needs some updating. Why? At the time he wrote that book, he used the best available information about technology, society, writing, and literature. Society has moved on, so today’s readers are well-informed. For example, the “intelligent” robots in I, Robot do not act like the AI we see in ChatGPT.
Thus, today’s writers stand on a foundation laid by the first steps in books like I, Robot. Yet this means the works of today will face the same issues. For example, recall it was popular to say, “You are the weakest link” around the year 2000. Now, this is a dated term, and you can find it in writings from 2000.
The same was true of my homework box. I referred to popular television programs (wow, did I like The Dukes of Hazzard) and discussed what I thought the future would be like. In one assignment, I described how it was easy to connect a microphone to an Apple II computer, which would allow it to operate a car. My idea seemed so simple and obvious. All I needed to do was say, “Drive me to the store.” Yeah…
The big difference from a landmark standpoint is that my flaws occurred privately, whereas a published book allows every modern reader to see them.
Let’s consider my first book. It had so many flaws that a second edition was required. Yet, after that second edition, my book was perfect. Right? I wish!
Modern readers see that books like I, Robot require a proper perspective to enjoy, which means that, in time, my books will have the same issues. A great example is that none of my books has AI as a topic, and as we know, our society is working like mad to come to grips with the tremendous impact.
Will this article be a less-than-perfect example? Only time will tell.
You’re the best -Bill
January 19, 2022 Updated June 06, 2026
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