Just Finished Reading: Computer Crimes and Capers edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh (FP: 1983) [250pp]

Continuing with my intermittent theme of Man(kind) Vs Machines this was a collection of crime(ish) related short stories involving robots or computers. As with most such collections the quality was a little hit and miss despite a plethora of top flight authors including Gordon R Dickson, Poul Anderson, Robert Silverberg and, naturally, Isaac Asimov.

Amongst the most interesting examples was Darl I Luv U by Joe Gores (1962) where a Defence Department computer hunts through the lost and the lonely for victims, Spanner in the Works by J T McIntosh (1963) where a hacked computer is outsmarted in time to prevent an enemy takeover and While U Wait by Edward Wellen (1978) where a Private Detective uses his computer background to outwit a hit-man during an ‘skype’ type interview. My favourite of the bunch was Sam Hill by Poul Anderson (1953) which told the story of a Totalitarian future America and the fictitious creation of a super Resistance operative within the Government computer network that takes on a life of its own and brings the Revolution quite a few steps forward.

So, a mixed bag but generally pretty good although, unfortunately, the longest tale is also the weakest by far. As always with these things the stories are much more about the present than any future they’re set it – in this case mostly the Cold War paranoia of the time(s). Plus one of the fun parts is seeing how various authors ‘predict’ the future so badly. One in particular struck me with the idea of nuclear powered cruise ships, rockets lifting off from the local city spaceport but hard-wired phones, only the rich owning personal computer terminals (complete with punch cards!), the NYSE handling ’50 million shares a DAY “without flinching”’ and only men doing the important stuff – this all being based in February 2016….. Funny……. Reasonable over all if only for the nostalgic elements.