io9
Today is the 70th anniversary of science fiction on television. On Feb. 11, 1938, the BBC broadcast its adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., about androids that rise up against their human creators. Capek's play is the origin of the word "robot," which comes from the Slovak work "robota," meaning work. [ComicMix]
The Robot Uprising Turns 70 Today
1:00 PM on Mon Feb 11 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
487 views
8 comments
Comments
Asimov has written in several places that RUR was the inspiration for his own work.
Interestingly, in the play R.U.R., the Robots aren't machines at all, but a complex kind of biological construct, made out of primordial protoplasm.
Also, it's a really good play.
Happy Birthday, crazy genre.
The amazing part is just how much the plot resembles subsequent machines-take-over-the-world stories, right down to The Animatrix and I, Robot.
@SeanOHara: Of course, you've the pick of the litter for the reasons why, and what that ultimately means. Personally, I like it as the underlying fear of just what it means to create things "just like us," when we're not all that swift.
Love robots.
(Not like THAT stupid!)
Excuse me.
I, for one, welcome our R.U.R. robot overlords.
It's from the Czech word Robota!!! (which also happens to be the Slovak word, b/c the two languages only differ by like 2 letters) But nonetheless.....CZECH!!!
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