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Mulan Yang
Professor Cecelia Musselman
ENGW1111H: P2D2
15 October 2016
MLA Format
Word Count: 1433
Face to Facetime
Imagine what technological advances could be made in the next century. Holograms,
virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and many other inventions could become much more
prevalent. Technologies that no one has thought of yet might one day be commonplace in our
society. What predictions would have been made during the late 19th or early 20th century? This
was a time when telephones had become popularized, but neither television nor the Internet
existed yet. It would have been difficult to accurately predict the future of technology. S.C.
Gilfillan wrote that there are two mechanical contrivances each of which bears in itself the
power to revolutionize entertainment, doing for it what the printing press did for books. They are
the talking motion picture and the electric vision apparatus with telephone (qtd. in Imagining) in
a 1912 article about his predictions for 1930. He was very optimistic about what the future of
technology could be comprised of. On the other hand, some people had views similar to that of
President Rutherford B. Hayes, who told Alexander Graham Bell that [the telephone is] an
amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them? (qtd. in Imagining). He was
completely unaware of how quickly phones would become an integral part of everyday life. An
author named E.M. Forster also chose to explore the technological possibilities for the future,
and looked even further ahead than the next few decades. In his short story, The Machine
Stops, he wrote about a futuristic society with capabilities extending past what we have now,
even though it has been over a century since he published his work. However, rather than
celebrating what humans of the future could invent, Forster wrote about a society in which

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humans become so dependent on the Machine that they cannot live without it. They reside in
little underground rooms within the Machine, which though [they] contained nothing, [were] in
touch with all that [one] cared for in the world (Forster). With the push of a button, people have
access to food, beds, medical attention, and ways to communicate with the outside world.
However, this dependence causes all of the inhabitants to die when the Machine breaks down
and cant repair itself any longer because of their blind faith that the Machine would eventually
fix itself. On the left, you can see
what a room in the Machine might
look like, as imagined by an episode
of the television show, Out of the
Unknown (The Machine). This
little hexagonal room looks like a
bizarre, unrealistic prediction of
now and the future, but that doesnt
mean Forsters story doesnt have any value. It still forces modern readers to ponder a few
questions, such as: (1) is our society similarly reliant on technology? (2) If not, could our society
end up like this one day? (3) How far are we along the path to this kind of future? (4) Lastly, if
most of our current technology shut down, would we survive without it?
Forsters dire prediction about how technology-reliant people will become is reminiscent
of the views many people hold today. Most teenagers have probably been berated about being on
their cell phones too much. It seems to be a general attitude in society to assume that kids are too
absorbed in their electronic devices to truly appreciate life anymore. However, older adults are
also succumbing to the temptation that is near-constant cell phone usage. Forster not only

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included innovative electronics in his story, but he also wrote about how this technology would
affect peoples interactions. In the story, a son, Kuno, cant convince his mother, Vashti, to visit
him face to face, even though it would require only a two day trip in a comfortable air ship. She
claims that because she can communicate with him and see him fairly well through the Machine,
it is unnecessary for them to talk in person. This is a surprisingly accurate prediction of changing
family dynamics when electronics are involved. Dr. Jenny Radesky, who specializes in
childrens development, observed that of 55 families at fast food restaurants, 40 of the 55
parents used a mobile device during the meal, and many were more absorbed in the device
than in the kids (Neighmond). Although this was not a perfectly designed study so much as
detailed observations, it was still enough to be informative. Vashti is also trying to create excuses
not to visit her son because she is very reluctant to leave her room and travel above ground. This
attitude seems to be somewhat reflected in our communities; although 40% of kids want to be
outside more often, the number of kids who play outside every day has halved compared to their
parents generation (2013). Its not that most kids in this generation suddenly want to stay inside
using electronics all day, but instead the attitude about the importance of playing outside has
changed. A 2013 study found that almost a third (32%) [of adults] believe allowing their
children to play ball games or make noise outdoors would cause problems with other residents
(2013). Children playing outside is now seen as potentially disruptive to the community, rather
than a commonplace activity. If this trend towards staying indoors continues, perhaps one day
most people will be like Vashti, preferring to interact with the outside world only through
technology.
However, just as Kuno differs from his mother and yearns to see the Earth and the stars,
there are always some people that advocate using electronics less and exploring more. These

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people could parallel the Homeless in the story: those who have been kicked out of the Machine
for questioning it too much or otherwise going against it. This is a sentence tantamount to death
for those living in the Machine, who have been told that it is impossible to survive on the surface
of the Earth without a respirator that can only be obtained through the Machine. However, at the
very end when the Machine is collapsing, Kuno explains to his mother that there are people
living outside, hiding in the mist and the ferns until our civilization stops (Forster). Although
an overwhelming majority of people in the story seemed to enjoy living in the Machine, they
were essentially determined at birth to be satisfied with sitting all day. In our society, in which
there is a much greater difference in the personalities of people, it seems less likely that one day
nearly everyone would reject the outside world. The only scenario in which this is likely to
happen is if there is a global disaster and the surface of the Earth is no longer habitable.
Otherwise, there will probably always be enough dissenters to form their own society, like the
Homeless did, separate from the Machine. Even now, there are Amish communities that dont
rely on the electronics that most people do, and similar groups will most likely continue to exist
in the future.
Although Forster made many accurate conjectures about todays technology and beyond,
he wasnt able to predict the details about plates that essentially allow video calls. In the short
story, the Machine did not transmit nuances of expression. It only gave a general idea of people
- an idea that was good enough for all practical purposes Something "good enough" had long
since been accepted by our race (Forster). This was written before television was invented, so it
is understandable that he had doubts about the resolution of video calls. However, in reality,
cameras are higher and higher quality as time goes on, and you can make out expressions quite
clearly, even when the video feed is from the other side of the globe. The true issue with current

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video technology is that you wouldnt get most of the other nuanced details about the
environment the person youre calling is in, such as any smells or quieter background sounds.
However, this is not vitally important compared to being able to nearly instantaneously talk to
people that you are so far separated from. This technology will only get better and better, and
perhaps if Forster had accurately predicted this as well, his story would have been different.
Either way, it is a reminder to us that interacting face to face is always better when possible. In
fact, no matter how exaggerated the story may seem at first glance, it still makes a clear point
about the importance of directly experiencing the world, rather than seeing everything through an
electronic medium, no matter how advanced. It also serves as a warning, describing the dangers
of becoming too dependent on technology.

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Works Cited
2013 Media Release. Playday, http://www.playday.org.uk/media/media-releases/2013-mediarelease/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2016.
Forster, E.M. The Machine Stops. The Oxford and Cambridge Review, Nov. 1909.
Imagining the Internet: A History and Forecast. Elon University School of Communications,
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions. Accessed 10 Oct. 2016.
Neighmond, Patti. For The Children's Sake, Put Down That Smartphone. NPR, 21 Apr. 2014,
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/04/21/304196338/for-the-childrens-sakeput-down-that-smartphone. Accessed 10 Oct. 2016.
The Machine. Archive Television Musings, 1 Dec. 2014. Screenshot.
https://archivetvmusings.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/out-of-the-unknown-the-machinestops/ Accessed 15 Oct. 2016.