A review by pcdbigfoot
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

4.0

1909 short story recommended towards the end of Madhumita Murgia’s excellent book Code Dependent. This is a quick read, with a powerful and highly relevant message. Forster tells us about a machine people become highly enamored of, and extremely dependent on. Problem is that they’ve also become detached enough from the design and operational details such that nobody really understands how it works. It’s easy to refer questions to a cascade of others, committees, or institutions who can ‘help’, but with no actual agency attached there, nothing gets answered or done. You might be able to predict how the story ends. Good timely read, easy to find in the library too.