Rename: Only Electric Sheep Are Cheap

They were machines that ran on electricity. How is electric not a valid description?

I'm not denying that other people have used "electric" as some kind of magic, sciency-sounding word; I don't think it's reasonable to accuse Philip K Dick of having done so.

I don't see too much of a problem with this one- certainly not the "what's an electric sheep do" one mentioned earlier. Possibly add a few redirects to the effect of "Expensive Organics Cheap Androids" "Cheap Robots Expensive Originals" and "Cloned Food Cheap Real Food Costly" and see if that helps.

On the subject of obscurity: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep is NOT obscure at all; one of the most famous cinematic examples of Cyberpunk is based upon the story. I'm going to assume most of you have at least -heard- of Blade Runner. Either way, Philip K Dick is one of the most prominent names in science fiction (often mentioned in the same breath as Asimov), and "Electric Sheep" is one of his best-known stories.

You might as well suggest Redshirts be renamed because it requires you to know about some old TV show.

Well, I know personal anecdotes don't really matter that much, but for the sake of it:

I consider myself a fan of science fiction literature of all sorts, and I've definitely heard of this book, I know who Phillip K. Dick was, and I know what the outline of the story is. But I've never actually read it, and not until I read this thread did I know that there were literal electric sheep in it, and that it wasn't just some thematic thing. Arguing that the name or plot of the book passes the Pop Culture Osmosis test would be incorrect in my opinion, but I can see the argument as possible. Arguing that Bob Q. Troper knows or should know the details of the eponymous electric sheep, though, is fairly blatant Fan Myopia.

Based on it savage, not titled it. It's fairly easy to go through your life knowing of Blade Runner but having no clue it was based on Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep. Really comparing the book to Star Trek is a little bit of a stretch, isn't it?

As for whether the title makes sense if you don't know the book, it doesn't. It's not unreasonable to assume that electric sheep would be made of electricity, seeing as how that's what electric means. And if that is what you assume, the title suddenly makes no sense what so ever.

edited 9th Aug '11 12:31:12 AM by deadguy

> It's not unreasonable to assume that electric sheep would be made of electricity

(backs away slowly)

Deadguy's... "logic" has convinced me that this trope does not need a rename. Voting con.

edited 9th Aug '11 10:38:12 AM by SilentReverence

Now, whenever I see the word "electric" precede the name of an item, it's always used to describe how the item is powered by electricity—not made out of it ("electric razor", "electric toothbrush", et. al.)

I've never seen the word electric used to mean "made out of electricity" in any of these contexts; in fact, "made out of electricity" is not a definition of the word "electric" that I can locate anywhere, anyway.

edited 9th Aug '11 11:28:03 AM by SeanMurrayI

So anyway. The electric sheep may be cheap, but the electric cows are rather expensive, and don't get me started on the electric chicken...

Stats:

"Only Electric Sheep Are Cheap found in: 37 articles, excluding discussions.

This title has brought 40 people to the wiki from non-search engine links since 20th FEB '09."

Given that some of those articles are indexes and other trope articles, it's not a very high wick count. Still, that alone doesn't tell us a lot. I do have a feeling that this trope is more common than that, though.

edited 9th Aug '11 12:00:50 PM by Antheia

It's pretty exclusive to sci-fi, and is hardly ubiquitous there. There's probably a good number of examples that it doesn't have, but I think it would benefit more from a round of entry pimping than a rename.

How about this: "Synthetic pets are just cheaper".

Synthetic Is Cheaper?

I guess that title would imply a broader scope than the current definition.

edited 9th Aug '11 1:37:34 PM by MetaFour

Actually that sounds like a broader, more interesting trope: that manmade stuff, especially massproduced, is undervalued compared to "natural" processes.

Really? You're saying I'm the only one who thought Electric Sheep were made of electricity?

Yes - while most people would use the word "electronic" instead these days, "eletric" isn't exactly opaque.

I thought "electric sheep" meant they were electric because the androids would imagine them that way, that perhaps they dreamt of a "robot world" of their own. However, the proper term for robot sheep would be electronic.

Electric razor, electric carving knife, electric toothbrush, electric car. I don't see why "electric sheep" would be wrong and "electronic sheep" right.

The obscurity of the reference and whether the title gets the idea across are the important issues. What adjective future people would be most likely to use is more-or-less irrelevant.

Yep, whether the title gets the idea across is the big issue. The reference is fine and fun but we can't count on it — making it much less important.

(I've got a different idea of "electric" as "mystical". For my part, I was saying a minor thing: that science and technology was esteemed in the 60's, sometimes in a woolly way. That is, "Electric" had a zing to it because of the majesty of Science and Technology. But that's not saying it is magic.)

I notice the crowner is running the same way the old alt-titles crowner went: quite a few votes, lots of pro, lots of anti.

edited 10th Aug '11 8:06:04 AM by Camacan

"electronic" is used for devices that rely on electronics, that is, on electricity-based treatment of data, truth tables, transistors, all the shit, and the way they exchange information with the environment is crucail to their function. "electrical" appliances either lack this "information-treatment" or it is not central to their function: an electric-car might be able to drive itself, but that's an electronic addition to the electirc tool. Electric tools that work with batteries are also often called "electronic". A good rule-of-thumb is the voltage at which the device functions: if it's below or around 12V, it's electronic, if it's around 120, 240, 300 V, it's electric. Lectronics usually work with direct current, electrics with alternating current. A robotic sheep is much closer to "electronic" than "electric", unless its job is, say, being a stylized landmower rather than to imitate the way a biological sheep behaves.

Next time you make weak objections like that I'll just LMGIFY and post a couple of links. You Should Know This Already, and if you don't, you should check it before speaking.

Merriam-Webster lists "electronic" as a definition of "electric" - as I mentioned, it's not a way most people would actually use it, but the difference between the two isn't exactly something the average person would be versed in.

For anyone who has even a vague sense of the nuance, "electric sheep" suggests "lawnmower", not "robot pet". Though I guess back when the book was wrtitten electronics weren't s developed and the difference may not have settled. Anyway, the title is confusing to a certain demographic, and isn't very suggestive anyway. How about "Synthetic Pets Are Cheaper"? That would include the cloned dogs from Ghost In The Shell for example.

This isn't just about pets. A lot of the examples are food, such as fruit.

@Camacan: "... sometimes in a woolly way."

Was that intentional? If so,

Maybe.

A) I don't agree. Electric implies you plug it in or use batteries, and carries a nuance of mundane and ordinary, and B) why you continuing to argue about an irrelevant point.

edited 10th Aug '11 8:22:26 AM by Xtifr