The Fun They Had

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The Fun They Had is a short science fiction story by Isaac Asimov, first published in 1951. It takes place in the year 2157, when children learn at home with a robotic teacher. Eleven-year-old Margie Jones hates her lessons because they feel dull and lonely.

One day her neighbor Tommy finds a real book in his attic. The book tells about the old days when children learned together in a school with a human teacher. Margie is curious and imagines what it would be like to study with many students in a real classroom and to have a real person as a teacher. The idea and memories come from stories her grandfather told.

The story shows a contrast between advanced technology and the social side of learning. The mechanical teacher can customize lessons, but it also isolates Margie from other children. She daydreams about the fun they had, hinting at the irony of longing for the past. Asimov invites us to think about what we gain and lose when technology takes over education, and to remember that human connection matters.