The Fun They Had

"The Fun They Had" is a science fiction story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in a children's newspaper in 1951 and was reprinted in the February 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Earth Is Room Enough (1957), 50 Short Science Fiction Tales (1960), and The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973). It has been modified in a Finnish English book called KEY English 8-9.

"The Fun They Had"
AuthorIsaac Asimov
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science fiction
Published inBoys and Girls Page
Publication typePeriodical
Media typePrint (Newspaper, Magazine, Hardback & Paperback)
Publication date1 December 1951

Written as a personal favor for a friend, "The Fun They Had" became "probably the biggest surprise of my literary career", Asimov wrote in 1973.[1] He reported that it had been reprinted more than 30 times with more being planned. It is about computerized home schooling, and what children miss out on by not being in school together. He surmised that the story is popular with children because "the kids would get a bang out of the irony."[2]

Plot summary

Set in the year 2157, when children learn individually at home using a mechanical teacher (robotic teacher), the story tells of an eleven-year-old Margie Jones, whose Brother Tommy finds a real book in the attic of his house. This makes Margie reminded of the words that her grandfather used to tell about the earlier school days. The book tells about a time when children used to learn in a group of the same age of students in large schools that were not merely designated rooms in private houses as in the year 2157. Margie and Tommy discuss what it must have been like to study together with a real person as a teacher, and though at first Margie is skeptical about the notion, by the end of the story she daydreams while sitting on the chair before the mechanical teacher about what it must have been like for 'the fun they had'. This story is an inspiration and a motivating factor that epitomizes the view of a child towards his/her schools.[3]

References
  1. Asimov, Isaac (1973). "Introduction". The Best of Isaac Asimov. Sphere Books. pp. ix–xiv. ISBN 0-385-05078-X. LCCN 74-2863.
  2. Asimov, I. (1979) In Memory Yet Green (Avon Books, New York), p. 626
  3. NCERT class 9 ch-1
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