"The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster

Originally Posted 4/13/24

Quick Overview

You can read "The Machine Stops" online here

I'm writing this review a couple of months after I read the short story, so my memory might be a bit off. But I remember really liking this story and would definitely recommend it to others. It's a cautionary tale about relying on technology too much.

In Depth Review

"The Machine Stops" is a story about one woman living in the machine and her son. The machine is where all humans live, and all humans have their needs met. Everything you could want is brought to you. Everything you need is brought to you. You can talk to your friends and interact with them, without ever needing to leave your room. So why would you? The machine exists underground, as the surface is no longer viable to humans.

One day, the main characters son calls her, asking her to come visit him. He has things he wants to tell her. She resists, as it would take a couple of days to reach him, and she dislikes traveling. Not wanting to really spoil much else, I'm going to stop there with the summary.

One of the things that was kind of amazing to me with this short story, is that it was written back in 1909. A lot of the technology talked about didn't seem too far away from where we are today. And it's always amazing to me seeing how close or far some people will get to techonology that exists in real life.

Another thought that came up often while reading this story was being over-reliant on technology, and what happens if that technology stops working. Now, I work in IT, and so without technology I wouldn't really have a livelihood. But it does still concern me with how technology is progressing. Personally things like AI concern me, and how much data is being harvested about us. Also just how few places there seem to be on the internet now a days. ( great blog post here about this idea)

One thing in particular that worries me with technology is computer skills tend to be going to the wayside. This particular concern makes me worried that I'm just an old man complaining about the younger generation at this point, but the amount of kids who have only used touch screen devices seems to continually grow. Things as basic as file management are pretty much foreign concepts, as with apps on your phone anything you need access to is just there. No need to think about where things are saved. Or having people understand that "the cloud" is just someone else's computer, elsewhere. And who knows, maybe in the future things like file management will go to the wayside like cursive, and I'm worried for nothing. But I worry about what happens if one day the internet stopped working. Or became so regulated it wasn't worth using. It could end up a sort of lost technology, since the basics just wouldn't be known anymore. Anyone who knew how to actually work on these things would be long gone.

That said, there are a lot of people learning coding. And a lot of what I've learned involved learning some core fundamentals about computers before moving on. So again, maybe my concerns are all for naught.

Wrap Up

I thought this story was well done. Not only was it fun to read, but it also had me reflect a lot about technology and our reliance on it currently. And I really appreciate when something I read or watch can make me reflect even after I'm done reading or watching it. This is an easy recommendation. Feel free to reach out and let me know your thoughts on this story! Feel free to email steventanzimedia@gmail.com.