The Fun They Had

by Isaac Asimov

Introduction
This is a very light story. It is set in the future. This story is regarding school life and how those children who do not go to
school, miss school. The setting of the story is in the future when perhaps, there will be no school, no books. Now how
those students will miss going to school and will feel that their ancestors that is the present generation had fun going to
school, meeting and helping each other.  In the end we come to know that this is an imagination of a young girl named
Margie who comes to know that their ancestors used to go to school, all the children used to study together. She feels
that they all had a lot of fun when they went to school. So, when we read the story we feel that school life is fun, and we
are fortunate that we have real schools where we go, meet friends and get a chance to study together.

About the Author Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (1920- 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known
for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer who wrote or edited more than 500
books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Isaac Asimov was the Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers
of America, the founder of robot ethics, and one of the world’s most prolific authors of fiction

Summary
 The story is set in the future when books and schools are conducted digitally through virtual classrooms. These classes
are taken by a mechanical teacher (robot) instead of a human class teacher. The story starts with two children named –
Margie and Tommy. They live in a world where computers dominate each and every sphere of life and how they attend
virtual classes. With the onset of virtual schools, the concept of books and classrooms has transformed considerably
from the pat days.

On 17th May 2157, Margie wrote in her diary about how Tommy found a real book. It was an old book that consisted of
stories. Margie’s grandfather once told her that when he was a young boy, his grandfather informed him that all the
stories used to be printed on paper in those days. Both Margie and Tommy started turning the yellow and crumpled
pages of the book to discover more about those days. They found it hilarious to read the book as the words stood fixed
in one place instead of moving the way they saw on a computer screen. From this it is clear that in the future, there will
be telebooks only and no hard copies of books would be available to read. Tommy exclaims that it is an utter waste to
read a book and throw it away once completed. He feels that their television screen has a million books on it and could
store a plenty more without throwing it away.

Soon, they start reading about a school during the ancient times when the teachers were human beings rather than
mechanical teachers. Although Margie hated the concept of schools, she is surprised to know actual persons taught at
school. This is because she has only seen robots teaching her at school. Moreover, she is not so fond of school that is
next to her bedroom as she does not have any classmates and the mechanical teacher always gives her loads of
homework to do.

Both Margie and Tommy study in a virtual classroom that includes electronic gadgets, robots, etc. Their daily lesson
appears on a computer screen which teaches them different subjects Maths, Science, etc. Once Margie’s mother called
the County Inspector to fix the mechanical device on which Margie attends her virtual classes. He put the big black
screen together again on which all the lessons are displayed and the questions are asked. However, the little girl was
disappointed about the device getting fixed so soon. She knew she would again need to put homework and test papers
into it through a punch code.

Further, as both the children continue reading the book, Margie’s mother calls her to attend her classes. While Margie
attends her school, the mechanical teacher teaches about fractions, but Margie’s mind starts wondering about the fun
her grandparents had while visiting a school in olden days. Those days a school used to be a special building and all the
kids of the same age studied together. She imagines how the kids from different areas in the neighbourhood would
come together and attend school merrily. Thus, Margie gets fascinated about the fun the children had centuries ago
when they went to a real school having a physical existence.

Elements
1. Title – The title quite suits the story. Tommy and Margie find an old book and learn about how the schools were
different in the past from their time and how much fun the children studying in those schools had. It also gives
us a glimpse of future education.
2. Genre – Science fiction
3. Setting- This story is set in Future (Year 2157), Margie’s house
4. Characters- Margie, Tommy, Margie’s mother (Mrs. Jones), County Inspector
5. Theme - Specifically, the story deals with the future of education which will become increasingly computerized.
As a result, students will become estranged from social interactions.
6. Message - Schooling and learning must involve Life-experiences, where children can interact with others, have
fun and leam the values of sharing and caring
Another message is one of warning against the dangers of computerized homeschooling which deprives children
of the benefits of the personal interactions between students and teachers.

Questions to be done in Notebook

Page 10 (Beehive) I – Question Number 4

II – part 2 RTC ( Sure they had - - -- - - man)

III – Q4, Q7

IV – Q1, Q2