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The Fun They Had

This Chapter is written by Isaac Asimov

Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed 17 May 2157, she wrote, “Today Tommy found a real
book!” It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that
there was a time when all stories were printed on paper. They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was
awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to — on a screen, you know. And
then when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.

The premise of this story is about books and schools in the future and the past. Margie and Tommy are the two characters here, and they are from the future. It
is evident that they have not seen a real printed book before, hence their surprise at discovering one. They are shocked to see that the words on the pages
won't move as they do on screen, and it can be concluded that instead of physical books, in the future people read from screens.

“Gee,” said Tommy, “what a waste. When you’re through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen
must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.” “Same with mine,” said Margie.
She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen. She said, “Where did you find it?” “In
my house.” He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. “In the attic.” “What’s it about?”
“School.”

Tommy, who is 13, thinks that printed books are a waste, as after reading them you have to throw them away, and can't get new knowledge or information from
them after you have read them. We get more insight into the future and see that in the future people read from televisions, and the books on it are called
telebooks, and there are millions of telebooks on television. We also find out that Margie is 11. Tommy tells her that he found the book in his attic and that the
book is about school without looking towards his house as he was too busy reading.

Margie was scornful. “School? What’s there to write

about school? I hate school.”
Margie always hated school, but now she hated
it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been
giving her test after test in geography and she had
been doing worse and worse until her mother had
shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County
Inspector.

Margie thought that a book about school, and a printed one at that, was worthless and useless. She already hated school and thought that there was nothing to
write about it. To add salt to her injury, her mechanical teacher had been giving her endless geography tests in which she was performing worse and worse.
This made her hate school even more. After this, her mother decided to send her mechanical teacher to the county inspector after being sad about her
(Margie’s) performance.

He was a round little man with a red face and a

whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled
at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the
teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know
how to put it together again, but he knew how all
right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again,
large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which

The Fun They Had 1

 all the lessons were shown and the questions were
asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She
always had to write them out
in a punch code they made her learn when she was
six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated
the marks in no time.

The County Inspector was a round little man, who had a red face and a box of dials and wires. He gave Margie an apple and after that started disassembling the
teacher to find problems in it. After about an hour, he was finished and reassembled the teacher. Margie hoped that he wouldn't be able to, but he was. The
teacher was black and ugly, with a big screen where all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. Margie most hated the slot where she had to put in
all her answers, homework and test papers after writing it out in punch code, which she had to learn when she was six. The teacher was able to calculate the
marks in no time.

The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and

patted Margie’s head. He said to her mother, “It’s
not the little girl’s fault, Mrs Jones. I think the
geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those
things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an
average ten-year level. Actually, the overall pattern
of her progress is quite satisfactory.” And he patted
Margie’s head again.
Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping
they would take the teacher away altogether. They
had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a
month because the history sector had blanked out
completely.
So she said to Tommy, “Why would anyone write
about school?”

The County Inspector smiled and patted Margie’s head and told her mother, Mrs Jones, that it wasn't her fault, as the teacher’s geography sector was too quick
for her, and told her that he had toned the speed down to the average ten-year level. He also told her that Margie’s performance had been rather quite
satisfactory. Here we learn that the county inspector inspected these machines and robots like Margie’s mechanical teacher. Margie was quite bummed even
though the inspector was happy with her progress, as she wanted that the teacher be taken away from her altogether. She thought back to the time when
Tommy’s teacher had been taken away for a month due to the teacher’s history sector being entirely blanked out, i.e. disappeared or not there, and was hoping
something like that would happen to her too. She then asked Tommy why anyone would write about school, as she thought that there wasn't much to it. She
thought that during the time the book was printed, there were still mechanical teachers and they went about things the same way they did now.

Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes.

“Because it’s not our kind of school, stupid. This is
the old kind of school that they had hundreds and
hundreds of years ago.” He added loftily,
pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”
Margie was hurt. “Well, I don’t know what
kind of school they had all that time ago.” She read
the book over his shoulder for a while, then said,
“Anyway, they had a teacher.” They had a teacher... It was a man. “Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular
teacher. It was a man.”
“A man? How could a man be a teacher?”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and
gave them homework and asked them questions.”

Clearing her misconception, Tommy told her that it was not their kind of school and that schools were different centuries ago, and that is the school that has
been talked about in the book. He said the above with a rather superior look and way as if he was better than her as he knew more than her. Margie was rather
hurt by this as Tommy had also called her stupid, and the way he said it made her feel dumb and less, and more inferior than him. She told him that she didn't
know what kind of school they had back then, and started reading the book over his shoulder and pointed out that they also had a teacher; but it wasn't a
regular teacher, as in it wasn't a mechanical teacher; it was a man. A man being a teacher wasn't regular or normal to them, as they were always taught by
machines, and by this fact Margie was rather surprised and shocked. Tommy told her that the teacher just told the students a few things and gave them
homework and asked them questions.

“A man isn’t smart enough.”

“Sure he is. My father knows as much as my
teacher.”
“He knows almost as much, I betcha.”
Margie wasn’t prepared to dispute that. She said,
“I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to
teach me.”
Tommy screamed with laughter. “You don’t know

The Fun They Had 2

 much, Margie. The teachers didn’t live in the
house. They had a special building and all the
kids went there.”
“And all the kids learned the same thing?”
“Sure, if they were the same age.”

Margie was still not sure whether a Man was qualified enough to be a teacher and said to Tommy that a man isn't smart enough, or not as smart as a machine.
Tommy counters and says that a man is smart enough, just like his father is as smart as his mechanical teacher. He says that the man also knows as much.
Margie wasn't ready to argue on that, and then said that she wouldn't want a stranger in her house to teach her. Tommy laughs at her and again says that she
doesn't know much, and tells her that teachers didn't live in the same house as students, in fact, they went to a special building to learn. Margie asked whether
they all learnt the same things, to which Tommy answered that if all the students were the same age.

“But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to

fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that
each kid has to be taught differently.”
“Just the same they didn’t do it that way then.
If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly.
She wanted to read about those funny schools.
They weren’t even half finished when Margie’s
mother called, “Margie! School!”
Margie looked up. “Not yet, Mamma.”
“Now!” said Mrs Jones. “And it’s probably time
for Tommy, too.”
Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some
more with you after school?”

Margie was a little shocked at this revelation too. Margie says that her mother told her that a teacher had to be adjusted according to the minds of every
student, and because of that each student has to be taught differently. Here we can incur that each student had a private and personal teacher. Tommy
responds by telling her they didn't do it like that back then. Tommy gets a little annoyed at Margie at this point, and tells her that if she didn't like the book she
didn't have to read it. Margie quickly said that it was not that she didn't like the book, and she wanted to read more about those funny books. To them, it
seemed that the idea was rather strange, as one teacher couldn't possibly be able to explain to many different kids as all their minds were different. Tommy and
Margie were also very accustomed to mechanical teachers, so it is rather understandable that they think these schools to be funny. Tommy and Margie weren't
even half finished with the book when Margie’s mother called out to her that it was time for school. She tried to delay but to no avail. Mrs Jones also said that it
was time for Tommy’s school too. Margie asked Tommy whether she could read the book with him later after school.

At this point, we can get quite a clear idea about Tommy’s character, who thinks that he is superior to Margie as he knows more than her and thinks that she is
dumb.

“May be,” he said nonchalantly. He walked away

whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath
his arm.
Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right
next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher
was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the
same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better
if they learned at regular hours.
The screen was lit up, and it said: “Today’s
arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper
fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the
proper slot.”

Tommy told her May Be in a careless manner and walked away, whistling with the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm. Margie went into her school room,
which was right next to her bedroom. This is why Margie thought going into a special building to learn from a Man was rather strange, as during her time they
learned by a machine in their very homes. The Teacher was on and was waiting for her, and it was always on at the same time during the weekdays, as her
mother told her that little girls learned better during regular hours. The screen then asked her to insert yesterday’s homework into the proper slot, and that
today they would learn Arithmetic and addition of proper fractions. This is where we can also understand why Margie was very shocked to learn about the old
schools and the way they went about things, as it was radically different from their way of learning.
They had a mechanical teacher and not a human. They went to school in their own homes and not in a specially designated building for it. A screen taught them
and not a live teacher. Each machine was adjusted and designed to suit a particular child, and a single man taught a group of students in the olden days.

Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about

the old schools they had when her grandfather’s
grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the
whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting
in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom,
going home together at the end of the day. They
learned the same things, so they could help one
another with the homework and talk about it.

The Fun They Had 3

 And the teachers were people…
The mechanical teacher was flashing on the
screen: “When we add fractions ½ and ¼...”
Margie was thinking about how the kids must
have loved it in the old days. She was thinking
about the fun they had.

She inserted the homework with a sigh and was thinking about the time when her great-grandfather was a little boy. She imagined that all the kids from the
neighbourhood came together, went to school together, came back together, laughed, enjoyed, and shouted together, and how as they learned the same things
could help each other in their homework. She thought about how the teachers were live people, all the while the mechanical teacher’s screen was flashing the
addition of 1/2 and 1/4. She thought that how the kids must have loved it in the old days, and about how much fun they had.

The Fun They Had 4