All by Itself

"It was a good buy" he thought while driving home. The salesman was right. Just what he needed. His last camera had too many buttons and dials. He had tried to take a class, but it got too confusing; all those numbers to remember. And he never did get the hang of depth of shutter--or was that focus? This new camera was just the ticket. It would do everything for him. He parked in front of his apartment and grabbed the bag from the seat beside him. He was eager to try it out. He locked his car doors and hurried in to show his wife his new purchase.

He set the bag with the camera on one end of the kitchen table and a new box of film on the other end. "Watch this!" he said.

The camera rolled out of the bag on its six all-terrain wheels and headed directly for the film. It skidded to a halt as its back sprung open. The couple watched in amazement as the camera devoured the film--box and all. Some clicks and whirs later, the box emerged neatly folded from a slot near the bottom of the camera. "Just what you needed!" the wife chided, "It loads the film all by itself!"

A small periscope popped up out of the top side of the camera and rotated until its computer chip controlled electronic eye spied the couple across the table. The wheels quickly maneuvered the lens to face them as a cheery computer voice chirped "Smile! Your picture will be ready in ten seconds."

Moments later, a full color snapshot in brilliant (not lifelike) color emerged from the slit in the front of the camera. "It's just what I needed," said the husband. "It took a beautiful picture and I didn't have to do anything."