http://kk.org/thetechnium/the-unspeakable/
This article offers some more of Arthur C. Clarke’s view on Marvin Minsky’s “useless machine” expanding on why the machine’s simple functionality (un-functionality) is so “unspeakably sinister” Additionally, the article reveals the mainstream appeal that the machine had as Minsky is quoted talking about how many copies of the machine were made and given to various executives. Another individual speaks on how he remembers having a toy in childhood that resembled the ultimate machine.
This relative popularity of the ultimate machine is interesting because of the machine’s implications: a singular purpose of ending its own apparent existence. The fact that it might have been a children’s toy is at least a little curious. The machine acts out its own death sequence at its owner/creator’s will. This repetitive death animation displays the master-slave dynamic we discussed in class; in the useless machine’s case though, it inherently defies its master’s imperative of functional use.