The Mechanical Man Of The Future
A syndicated article from 1928 that warns mankind of the impending arrival of robots, who'll apparently help us and attempt to crush our esophaguses in equal measure:
"The mechanical man, brazen-lunged creature of dreadful portent is among us! A few years from now you may rub elbows with him in the subway, turn out in the street to let him pass upon his ruthless way, or even, if you are a malefactor, find yourself pinioned in his grip of cold steel and compelled with unreasoning inflexibility toward a place of confinement.
What can the mechanical man do? Plenty! He can walk, and he can talk. He can stand, sit, bow, and otherwise comport himself after the fashion of a human being. But he can do more than that. He can shake hands and breathe, telephone, operate practically any electrical device, and perform any number of duties advantageous to mankind."
Ha! Fooled them. It's 2007, our greatest robot inventions struggle to vacuum properly, and we're busy debating evolution.