1921 AD |
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| In 1921, the Czech author Karel Capek produced his best known work, the play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which featured machines created to simulate human beings. | Some references state that term "robot" was derived from the Czech word robota, meaning "work", while others propose that robota actually means "forced workers" or "slaves." This latter view would certainly fit the point that Capek was trying to make, because his robots eventually rebelled against their creators, ran amok, and tried to wipe out the human race. | |
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| However, as is usually the case with words, the truth of the matter is a little more convoluted. In the days when Czechoslovakia was a feudal society, "robota" referred to the two or three days of the week that peasants were obliged to leave their own fields to work without remuneration on the lands of noblemen. For a long time after the feudal system had passed away, robota continued to be used to describe work that one wasn't exactly doing voluntarily or for fun, while today's younger Czechs and Slovaks tend to use robota to refer to work that's boring or uninteresting. | ||
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| These notes are abstracted from the book Bebop BYTES Back (An Unconventional Guide to Computers) Copyright Information |
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