Monolith (Space Odyssey) fused as one being "Halman" in the Monolith's computational matrix) were able to introduce a computer virus into TMA-2 which destroyed it before it could render the human race extinct. The Firstborn did not appear to have abandoned all interest in the evolutionary experiments overseen by the ancient Monoliths. Given that the Monoliths' communications are said to be limited by the speed of light, but Dave Bowman is sent on an interstellar journey at the end of "2001: A Space Odyssey", and Bowman is apparently transformed into the Star Child, not by the Monoliths, but by the Firstborn (both Kubrick
2001: A Space Odyssey in popular culture appearance on the cover of "The Whole Earth Catalog". Noting that images of the entire planet recur several times in "A Space Odyssey", Jacobs writes: In August 2011, in response to Apple Inc.'s patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung, the latter argued that Apple's iPad was effectively modeled on the visual tablets that appear aboard spaceship "Discovery" in the "Space Odyssey" film, which constitute prior art. "Siri", Apple's natural language voice control system for the iPhone 4S, features a reference to the film: it responds "I'm sorry I can't do that" when asked to "open the pod bay doors". When asked