Poor Image: Master Computer

It looks just like the wall of a warehouse. It doesn't look like a computer at all.

EDIT: Plus, if it's Deep Thought, then it wouldn't even qualify since it wasn't even a Master Computer, just a monolithic supercomputer. It didn't really run anything.

edited 20th Aug '13 2:05:20 PM by Larkmarn

I say pull it. It doesn't look like much at all.

It looks like a computer for me, but yeah the visual is not unambiguous.

Bad image. Pull.

+1 to pull for ambiguity and quality. I'm having a devil of a time finding good options...maybe this◊?

That was one of the concerns I had.

edited 20th Aug '13 5:50:00 PM by Willbyr

I see too many other tropes in that.

I also say pull it. I recognise it as Deep Thought from the TV series, which makes it a non-example. I'd accept it regardless if there was something in the picture which said "master computer", but there's nothing like that.

We may need to settle for some kind of illustration showing how one computer can control others.

Here are a few possible illustrations.

http://imgur.com/jbmWXvm

http://imgur.com/LoNDkb0

http://imgur.com/l8enedJ

http://imgur.com/IhIx897

http://imgur.com/UaoUeS0

http://imgur.com/989FPRa

Alternatively, I can try to find a cartoon with a computer "being bossy" as a humorous version of "master".

Of those, I like the third best, but I dunno that it's truly what the trope is getting at.

I'd say third as well, only because it shows computers, and all the others are ambiguous.

I don't think we're going to be able to illustrate this trope with anything but a literal interpretation. After all, how, exactly, would you illustrate a computer "lording it over" someone or something else?

I'll see if I can construct a more illustrative example.

Edit: Done and uploaded.

edited 21st Aug '13 8:58:46 AM by Melkior

Can someone put faces on those screens that emphasize the roles?

I don't see how that's illustrative. Master Computer is about a computer controlling (or at least being completely integral to the running of) a society. That's just illustrating a form of networking.

edited 21st Aug '13 9:37:43 AM by DashSpendar

I wonder if something like Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal would have something...

Friend Computer: [1]◊ [2]◊ [3]◊

First or third could work.

edited 22nd Aug '13 1:41:02 AM by AnotherDuck

Only 2 works for me there.

@13: Isn't that The Computer Is Your Friend?

Isn't this trope "a system requires a central(=master) computer that have no redundancies"? This system commonly runs a The Computer Is Your Friend /an Crapshoot A.I, but it could also run a weapons system, a Kill Sat, a Cyberspace environment, or even just a mmorpg. What's is important is that the system can be controlled/destroyed by controlling/destroying this master computer.

edited 22nd Aug '13 2:02:45 AM by m8e

Both 15.1 and 15.3 could easily be a person who, for intimidation purposes, is only showing their eye on a video screen.

15.2 almost works, but as m8e said, it better fits The Computer Is Your Friend.

I'll see if I can further "doctor" 11 to better illustrate the trope.

Okay, I've abandoned the idea of using 11, for now. Here's a possibly better alternative.

Couldn't we have HAL?

We could, but how would a picture of a glowing camera "eye" illustrate the trope? I say it wouldn't.

edited 22nd Aug '13 7:05:00 AM by Melkior

I agree; HAL's sensor light isn't nearly enough context on its own. Also, I'm not really certain how HAL fits the trope...and it's a Zero Context Example on the page as it is.

edited 22nd Aug '13 6:03:59 AM by Willbyr

He's definitely this trope, albeit on a smaller scale. He runs the ship pretty completely... that said, I can't think of a way we can have it illustrative.

So what do people think of my suggestion in 20?