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"I've come across more and more people who've actually tried reading science fiction and can't make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany

Talking Pamphlet  
  An instructional pamphlet that instructs you through ordinary speech.  

Madge Rubichek had a problem; her husband. But, she was nothing if not methodical, so she acquired a do-it-yourself murder kit.

Did you ever have a problem trying to both read the instructions for something and perform the actions stated in the instructions - at the same time?

Marge was somewhat unprepared when the pamplet spoke to her.

"Uh, where are you?" Madge asked nervously.

"Where am I where? the pamphlet responded in confusion.

"Yes, precisely," she responded.

"Dear Purchaser, you are perplexing me," the pamphlet cried. "If you wish to carry forward smartly to the objective for which this Kit was designed, please do not strain my conversational and analytical faculties."

Technovelgy from Ellison Wonderland, by Harlan Ellison.
Published by Signet in 1974
Additional resources -

This marvelously dark story loses nothing in the years since its first publication. Harlan Ellison is not, strictly speaking, a hard science fiction writer. He says he writes more in the style of magical realism.

Whatever the genre, don't miss do-it-yourself from this fine book of short stories.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Ellison Wonderland
  More Ideas and Technology by Harlan Ellison
  Tech news articles related to Ellison Wonderland
  Tech news articles related to works by Harlan Ellison

Talking Pamphlet-related news articles:
  - Books of Hope Talk to Everyone
  - Interactive Paper Four Sounds Off

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Will Whales Be Our First Contact?
NYC/Dublin Portal Fails To Meet 'Guardian Of Forever' Standards
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EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer

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Science Fiction in the News

Biohybrid Robots Made Of Living And Synthetic Materials
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'

Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans
'... drugged and chilled and stowed in sleep tanks.'

Poul Anderson's 'Brain Wave'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."

AI Note-Taking From Google Meet
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'

Qore IcePlates Are Personal Cooling Suits
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'

Waymo Cars Shout At Each Other, Autonomously
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'

Seeing Faces On Grains Of Sand (AI Pareidolia)
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'

More SF in the News

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