A Logic Named Joe

Leinster, Murray (pseud. of William F. Jenkins). "A Logic Named Joe." Astounding March 1946. Rpt. Modern Masterpieces in Science Fiction. Sam Moskowitz, ed. Cleveland: World, 1965. Also rpt. Souls in Metal. Mike Ashley, compiler. New York: St. Martin's, 1977. New York: Jove-HBJ (Harcourt), 1978. Isaac Asimov Presents the Best of Science Fiction Firsts. Isaac Asimov et al., eds. New York: Beaufort, 1984.

A "logic" (what we would call a computer terminal) becomes a self-conscious individual because of a minor mistake on the assembly line. Joe gets the other logics to give people all the data they might want, with amusing results for ML's readers but trouble for the human characters: logics are central to the civilization in the story, and the system can't be disconnected. In a brief mention, Alec Nevala-Lee sees "A Logic Named Joe" as "one of the few stories of any era to anticipate the Internet" (Astounding … [2018], p. 245).

Discussed by David L. Ferro and Eric G. Swedin in "Rebooting 'A Logic Named Joe': Exploring the Multiple Influences of a Strangely Predictive Mid–1940s Short Story" in Science Fiction and the Prediction of the Future: 104-19.[1] (Our source: Moira O’Keeffe in SFRA Review #298 (Fall 2011): p. 22.)[2]

Small additions, RDE 15Sep19 & 25Ap21