When, where and why did Isaac Asimov say (and or) write this quote?

"I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." -Isaac Asimov

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Clarification of Question by psychopoet-ga on 20 Dec 2005 06:41 PST

Hey Pinkfreud, 

Would you mind working your magic with this?

Although this alleged quote is all over the Web, I haven't seen a
shred of evidence indicating that Isaac Asimov ever said or wrote such
a thing. When quotations are widely attributed to famous persons, but
no source is ever cited, the legitimacy of the quote must be called
into question. The Web is littered with fake quotes from well-known
witty people such as Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and
Socrates.

I am a huge Asimov fan. I have read nearly everything Isaac Asimov
wrote. I can't prove that he didn't say this, but I suspect that the
quote is a phony.

I also don't recall reading this quote in any of Asimov's works (I
haven't read *everything* he wrote, but I've read a lot of it).  In
addition, I think I read that Asimov wrote on a typewriter and refused
to use a word processor, so I'm a little skeptical that he would say
anything quite this positive about computers.

I'm also an Asimov fan, and also don't recall this quote. However, if
Asimov did say (write) it, I'm inclined to think it was not him
speaking for himself, but perhaps a character speaking. Technically,
if that were the case, the quote could be attributed to Asimov, since
he may have written the words, but clearly it would be a distortion of
fact if it had been a character's utterance.

fstokens,

Asimov did use a computer, although not for everything. Much of his
personal correspondence (some of which, I am delighted to say, was
sent to me) was composed on an electric typewriter. You may be
thinking of Harlan Ellison, one of whose quirks is that he has
continued to slam out his manuscripts on a manual typewriter well into
the computer age.

Thanks guys for the insight

Is there any evidence that it might have been within Asimov's
character to say such a thing even if he didn"t?