on the 17th of May 2157 Margie wrote in her diary today Tommy found the real book this story is set in 2157. at this time there are not the human teachers but mechanical teachers Margie is an 11 year old girl her friend Tommy who is 13 years old found a real book a book that we presently use Margie's grandfather once said Margie when I was a child my grandfather told me that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper they turned the pages which were yellow and the words Stood Still instead of moving the way they do on a screen in the next scene Tommy is reading the book in Margie's house both of them are amused to see such a thing gee what a waste but you have read the book you just throw away I guess our television screen must have had a million books on it I wouldn't throw it away same with mine where did you find it in my house in the Attic what's it about school school what's there to write about school I hate school Margie always hated school but now she hated it even more why because the mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had called the County Inspector County Inspector a mechanic who repaired mechanical teachers he was around little man with a red face and a whole box of tools he smiled at Margie and gave her an apple then took the teacher apart Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again but he knew and after an hour or so there it was again large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked it's not the little girl's fault Mrs Jones I think the geography sector was geared to a higher level those things happen sometimes I've slowed it up to an average 10-year level actually the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory if they would take the teacher away with them they had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely why would anyone write about school because it's not a kind of school stupid this is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago centuries ago well I don't know what kind of school they had anyway they had a teacher sure they had a teacher but it wasn't a regular teacher it was a man and then How could a man be a teacher well he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions a man isn't smart enough he is my father knows as much as my teacher I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me you don't know much Margie the teachers didn't live in the house they had a special building and all the kids went there and all the kids learned the same thing yes if they were the same age but my mother says that teacher has to be adjusted to set the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently they didn't do it that way then if you don't like it you don't have to read the book I didn't say I didn't like it Margie School not yet Mama now and it's probably time for Tommy too can I read the book some more with you maybe Margie went into the school room it was right next to her bedroom and the mechanical teacher who was on and waiting for her it was always on it for me time every day except Saturday and Sunday the screen was lit up and it said today's arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions please insert yesterday's homework in the proper slot Margie did so with acai she was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy all the kits from the whole neighborhood came laughing and shouting in the schoolyard sitting together in the school room going home together at the end of the day they learned the same things so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it and the teachers were people the mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen when we add fractions one by two and one by four Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days she was thinking about the fun they had the fun they had [Music]