"Nothing Personal"

by Grant Carrington



    "Nothing Personal" was published in Eternity Vol. 1 No. 2 (1973), edited by Stephen Gregg. $1.00

    I no longer remember the inspiration for "Nothing Personal," although it undoubtedly had to do with the many disaster end-of-the-world stories in sf.


    Computers are bastards.
    I have nothing personal against them, you realize: it's just a fact. I ought to know: I've been working with them now for nearly forty-five years. Yes, I go back almost to the days of the ENIAC. You know about that one, don't you?
    After it had been in service for nearly fifteen years, they dismantled it for shipment to the Smithsonian. That's when they discovered that one circuit had been miswired.