Help ID yet another SF story

Cafe Society
1

A friend is trying to remember a science fiction story, and posted this on Facebook:

Anyone?

Another friend suggested Asimov’s Caves of Steel, but she said that’s not it.

Thanks.

2

The Machine Stops?

3

Beat me to it. Some information here, including a link to online text of the book.

4

Yup, I was going to say “The Machine Stops”, too.

5

Yup, I was going to say “The Machine Stops”, too.

6

That was it. Thanks!

7

The Machine Stops sounds like a marriage of THX 1138 and The Giver.

8

Except that it predates both by a very long shot, being from 1909. Which means that the video-call devices in the story actually predate television.

9

Even better!

10

The idea for television goes back to the late nineteenth century, although they didn’t have any idea how it might work:

11

Deleted–somehow ended up in wrong thread.