Today, I have the fabulous Cara Bristol over to explain the difference between my robot David, the Terminator and the Bionic Man. Well that's my interpretation. Let's read and find out what's what.
Machines, robots, androids & cyborgs. What’s the diff?
By Cara Bristol
I was first introduced to cyborgs in Star Trek:The Next Generation with “the Borg.” The Borg were former
humans who had been turned into robots through a computer interface that
networked them. They acted and thought as one unit. The Borg were the bad guys.
Now, in sci-fi romance, cyborgs have joined werewolves and
vampires as former villains who have become the new heroes.
So what’s the difference between machines, robots, androids
and cyborgs? Based on my research and opinion, these are my definitions:
A machine is a mechanical device that performs a function(s). A cotton
gin, an automobile, and a typewriter are machines.
A robot is a computerized machine that can react to the environment,
but it doesn’t “think” beyond its programming or feel emotion. Current example:
the Roomba vacuum cleaner. Roomba reacts to its environment. If it hits an
obstacle, it goes round it. It avoids stairs, and when it’s done cleaning, it
returns to its base. A regular vacuum (a machine) can’t do that.
An android is a robot with a human appearance. Fictional example: The Terminator. I’ve read that the terminator
was a cyborg, but I consider him to be an android, because (correct me if I’m
wrong) it was never mentioned that he’d been human.
A cyborg, short for cybernetic organism, is a biomechatronic (biologic,
mechanical, electronic) being. Cyborgs are human,
but have been altered with mechanical and computer parts. They think and feel,
but have enhanced abilities. The term “cyborg” was first coined in 1960 by
Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline in Astronautics
Magazine, talking about the enhancement that might be needed to mankind to
survive in space. Example: Brock Mann in Stranded with the Cyborg. After an
attack that nearly killed him, he was fitted with several prostheses and had a
microcomputer implanted in his brain.
Stranded with the
Cyborg blurb
by
Cara Bristol
Penelope Aaron, the former Terran president’s daughter, regrets
how she got Agent Brock Mann booted from the security force. But now that she’s
an interplanetary ambassador about to embark on her first diplomatic mission,
she still doesn’t want him tagging along. Especially since he seems to be
stronger, faster, more muscled, and sexier than she remembers. And pretending
to be her husband? This mission couldn’t get more impossible!
Ten years ago Penelope Isabella Aaron had been a pain in
Brock Mann’s you-know-what. Much has changed in a decade: “PIA” as he
code-named her, has grown up and is about to attend her first Alliance of
Planets summit conference, and Brock has been transformed into a cyborg after a
near-fatal attack. Now a secret agent with Cyber Operations, a covert
paramilitary organization, Brock gets called in, not when the going gets tough,
but when the going gets impossible. So when he’s unexpectedly assigned to
escort Penelope to the summit meeting, he balks at babysitting a prissy
ambassador. But after a terrorist bombing, a crash landing on a hostile planet,
and a growing attraction to his protectee, Operation: PIA may become his most
impossible assignment yet.
“Ten years
have passed. Penelope is different now,” Carter said.
Brock
doubted that. “Does she know about me?”
“That you’re
a cyborg? Of course not. She hasn’t been told anything about the program or
even that you’re the one who’s been assigned to her.”
“Yeah,
spring it on her. That will go over well.” He could envision the tantrum, and,
after she calmed down, the scheme she would devise to circumvent the decision.
The last time he’d seen her, she’d been emerging from his quarters
half-dressed, a triumphant smile tilting her lips. Shortly thereafter, two
fellow agents had come to arrest him.
President
Aaron had exonerated him, the transcripts from the investigation had been
sealed, and he’d been offered reassignment. Instead, he’d taken a position with
an anti-terrorist investigative organization. His unit got attacked; his fellow
operatives had died. Carter, who’d been working with Cy-Ops all along, had
swooped in and saved his ass.
“I’m not
saying I’ll do it, but, hypothetically, if I had a computer meltdown and
agreed, what would be my cover story? I couldn’t tag along as her bodyguard
because that would unsettle the Xenians.”
Carter
poured another shot of Cerinian brandy and downed it. He met Brock’s gaze
dead-on. “You’d accompany Ambassador Aaron as her husband.”
“Oh, hell
no!”
Multi-published, Cara Bristol is the author of more than 20
erotic romance titles. She writes science fiction, contemporary, and paranormal
erotic romance. No matter what the subgenre, one thing remains constant: her
emphasis on character-driven seriously hot erotic stories with sizzling
chemistry between the hero and heroine. Cara has lived many places in the
United States, but currently lives in Missouri with her husband. She has two
grown stepkids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling.
Author Newsletter
Thanks for hosting me today!
ReplyDeleteI'm keeping you 3 days.
ReplyDeleteI think that robots and androids can be quite sentient, though this is not a requirement. Some of my friends vehemently declare that we have sentient computers (= machinery) today. Don't know if that's true, but if it's not, the day will come very soon when it will be. I consider myself a cyborg since I wear glasses to help me see clearly.
ReplyDeleteI know my computer seems to have a mind of its own!
Delete