Science fiction novellas Book

I have not read all the stories in this collection, so this review will cover only those I have read so far (and I will update periodically as I read more over them):

THE MIDAS PLAGUE by Frederic Pohl (4.5 stars): Great novella about the "consummerism" gone wild. In a future where cheap energy and robot workers have made the production of consumer products "easy and cheap" the "poor" are forced to spend all their time in constant consumption in order to keep pace with the robots' extravagant production. Funny and thought provoking. (Read on October 27, 2007)

THE MACHINE STOPS by E.M. Forster (4.5 to 5.0 stars): A classic, haunting short story (more like a novella) written in 1909. The story concerns a world in which humanity (long ago) lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth (through War, disease, etc.). Now each person lives in almost complete "isolation" below ground in a "cell" where all their needs are taken care of by "the Machine." The Machine is an advanced computer created by humans in the distant past to assist mankind and on which mankind continued to rely on more and more until they became totaly dependant upon it. At the time of the story, people do not like to travel, all communicaiton is conducted via (can you believe it) instant messaging and video conferencing (remember this was written in 1909) and people are no longer "intellectually" curious.

The plot involves a member of the society who begins to distrust the way society is living, longs to visit the surface of the world and be free from the "assistance" of the Machine. I won't give any more away, but this is a powerful story (again written over 100 years ago) about the possible dangers of becoming over dependent on technology. (Read on July 23, 2009).