More of a long joke than a short story. Maybe worth the 10 minutes it takes to read. It's got a robot, anyway.

Creative and fun.

The idea is worn out by 2009, and I imagine it probably wasn't that original in 1958 either. Unfortunately, there's not much to the story besides the idea itself.

Competently written but uninspired.

It's inevitable that the reader accustomed to PKD's usual mind bending plots will anticipate this particular ending. For those new to PKD, it will be a fine story. For those who have read his later works, it is interesting to see his early plot devices.

I can't tell if the whole story was a simply a setup for the bad bun. Whether or not, you can avoid this one.

This is of my favorite SF stories. To me, the entire point of the story is that zinger at the end. While I enjoy the 1951 movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" I consider it only loosely based on this story precisely because it leaves out this crucial ending. I haven't seen the latest movie, but it seems it's more a remake of the 1951 film than a another take on this story.

This story has always reminded me of "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale" by Philip K Dick, which also has a great zinger at the end. Interestingly, that story was also made into a movie (Total Recall [1990]) that skips the zinger. But again, the movie is ok.

Cheryl said it well; the story reads like a Twilight Zone episode.

Strange little story. Not bad at all, but perhaps one too many facets for such a small page count.

Enjoyable and well-written. The treatment of the female characters was a little condescending, though. While it features a strong female character, the lead male eventually recognizes her to be just a "anxious woman, almost a girl". Well, it's easily enough ignored, at least for this (male) reviewer.