Ray Bradbury Forums
What story was this?

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11 December 2001, 03:00 PM
pendragon@planet-save.com
What story was this?
I remember reading a story about two kids finding a paper book set in the future. I'm almost positive Ray Bradbury wrote it, but I don't know the title.

All I remember of the story was that the children were comparing the paper book to the electronic ones they were used to & how the letters stayed the same when they flipped the pages.

Can anybody help?
01 February 2002, 03:30 PM
dandelion
I passed this on to a wonderful book group, "ExLibris, the Lost Boards," which just started up on MSN Groups, and received the following reply:

"Lenona R."
That story you mention in ExLibris sounds very much like Isaac Asimov's "The Fun They Had." I have it in a collection called, I think, "50 Short Science Fiction Stories." It's the first one listed. Fascinating look at computers vs. teachers, schools vs. homeschooling, and how computers don't necessarily make learning more fun. Only problem is maybe the 1950's term "punch code" - you'd think Asimov would have guessed that those would be replaced after 200 years or sooner. I remember reading the story in third grade with a partner and not grasping that the story was supposed to take place in the future because that sort of concept - especially without any Star Trek-style spaceships - was over my head at the time.

Cori
Thanks for the answer, and how about Heinlein's "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel," where a kid living in the future had his own space suit but still worked at a soda fountain and used a slide rule!