PM’s utterly focused crew assembles after its recent strategy conference at Monkey Valley Beach resort in Noordhoek, near Cape Town. For the record, they plan to make 2010 the best year in the brand’s history.

Many years ago, on one of my regular visits to New York, I attended a lecture by celebrated science fiction writer Isaac Asimov at – of all places – the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Asimov was my hero for a number of reasons: his novels, and the Foundation trilogy in particular, had ignited a passion for far-out fiction that filled my leisure hours; I was in awe of his disarmingly simple and supremely logical Three Laws of Robotics (you probably encountered them in the Hollywood blockbuster I, Robot, starring Will Smith); and I was fascinated by those bushy, gloriously retro side-whiskers.

Sadly, the man was not especially taken by my questions. I wanted to know his thoughts on the likely integration of humans and machines, and whether he believed our planet might have been populated billions of years earlier by bacteria from outer space. He clearly didn’t care either way. In fact, he was unaccountably interested in the group of female acolytes that surrounded him, stared at him with limpid eyes and asked really penetrating questions on the lines of “Where do you get those amazing ideas?”.

The memories came flooding back this month with our cover story’s exploration of the myriad issues surrounding social robots and their interaction with the planet’s most unpredictable species – the human. Our brain’s response to humanoid robots is sometimes referred to as the “uncanny valley” – in essence, the creep factor. It’s not always easy to define, but once you’ve experienced that vague sense of unease, you’ll understand. (For the record, Honda’s ASIMO doesn’t trigger this feeling.)

We invite you to read the story and decide whether robots can indeed be trusted. Before making a decision, consider Asimov’s Laws: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Legal niceties aside, we entered 2010 on something of a high note, having recorded a January sale of 50 000-plus copies (subject to confirmation by the ABC). Whereas this is good news in terms of our brand profile, and makes us more attractive to advertisers, the real significance of the circulation increase lies in our growing acceptance among clever, curious people such as yourselves. Our conversation – sometimes vigorous, always entertaining – began with the launch of the first South African issue of PM in August 2002, and remains a pleasure.

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aland@ramsaymedia.co.za