Asimov wrote the source material in the early 1950's, at a time when transistors were just taking the place of vacuum tubes, computers took up giant rooms and had less processing power than a modern cell phone, and Sputnik had yet to beep its way around the planet. So, when it was written, Foundation was absolutely ground breaking and awe inspiring.
I read the books for the first time in the early 80's. Even though the internet, and even pentium computer chips, were still a decade or so away, 80's technology had already surpassed that possessed by the 12,000 year old human galactic empire in a lot of ways. IIRC, in the books, the Foundation collected the sum of human knowledge on microfilm. Microfilm! So, even forty years ago, the books, while still entertaining, were, in a lot of ways, quaint.
With today's tech, all the Foundation would have to do is set up cloud servers on a few planets, download the contents of the Galactic Empire's Wikipedia and the archives of the major scientific and artistic journals. A couple of weeks of hard work for some IT guys and a good broadband connection and all would be complete. Basically, from today's perspective, it's really hard to believe that an ancient star-faring empire that spans the entire galaxy wouldn't already have the sum total of knowledge, in every known language, stored safely away on some form of durable media.
The books weren't about the characters, who were ephemeral and gone in just a few pages. They were about the Foundation as an entity and the collapse and rise of civilization. In the series, the writers craft interesting characters and develop intriguing plot lines that were not part of the books. But then, just like the books, a couple of hundred years pass suddenly and the characters and unresolved plot lines become irrelevant. I found this to be very frustrating, and it made it difficult to become engaged. I mean, why bother when the characters will just be gone without resolution within an episode or two?
There are parts of the series I really like. The Emperors were well done and evoke more sympathy than quasi-villains usually do. The writers try to update the technology to a more believable level, without quite rising to the point of having an empire-wide Wiki. The basic premises - that a genius mathematician develops an algorithm that can predict the future behavior of large groups - is left intact and is developed in a believable manner.
But the fact remains that the primary plot is rather obsolete. I have nothing but love for Asimov. I have read and reread all of his novels over the years, and still find them to be very enjoyable. Personally, I will continue to watch the series because of that love. But I doubt that there are enough nostalgic Asimov fans still alive to make the show a success. I also doubt that many people who aren't fans of 70 year old science fiction will be able to suspend their disbelief or tolerate the frustration enough to keep watching after the first few episodes.
I read the books for the first time in the early 80's. Even though the internet, and even pentium computer chips, were still a decade or so away, 80's technology had already surpassed that possessed by the 12,000 year old human galactic empire in a lot of ways. IIRC, in the books, the Foundation collected the sum of human knowledge on microfilm. Microfilm! So, even forty years ago, the books, while still entertaining, were, in a lot of ways, quaint.
With today's tech, all the Foundation would have to do is set up cloud servers on a few planets, download the contents of the Galactic Empire's Wikipedia and the archives of the major scientific and artistic journals. A couple of weeks of hard work for some IT guys and a good broadband connection and all would be complete. Basically, from today's perspective, it's really hard to believe that an ancient star-faring empire that spans the entire galaxy wouldn't already have the sum total of knowledge, in every known language, stored safely away on some form of durable media.
The books weren't about the characters, who were ephemeral and gone in just a few pages. They were about the Foundation as an entity and the collapse and rise of civilization. In the series, the writers craft interesting characters and develop intriguing plot lines that were not part of the books. But then, just like the books, a couple of hundred years pass suddenly and the characters and unresolved plot lines become irrelevant. I found this to be very frustrating, and it made it difficult to become engaged. I mean, why bother when the characters will just be gone without resolution within an episode or two?
There are parts of the series I really like. The Emperors were well done and evoke more sympathy than quasi-villains usually do. The writers try to update the technology to a more believable level, without quite rising to the point of having an empire-wide Wiki. The basic premises - that a genius mathematician develops an algorithm that can predict the future behavior of large groups - is left intact and is developed in a believable manner.
But the fact remains that the primary plot is rather obsolete. I have nothing but love for Asimov. I have read and reread all of his novels over the years, and still find them to be very enjoyable. Personally, I will continue to watch the series because of that love. But I doubt that there are enough nostalgic Asimov fans still alive to make the show a success. I also doubt that many people who aren't fans of 70 year old science fiction will be able to suspend their disbelief or tolerate the frustration enough to keep watching after the first few episodes.