A question

[forsyth]

Man, whatever happened to cyberpunk? Did it just die out when the future didn't turn out its way? Or did it die out because parts of the future turned out too MUCH its way?

Comments

[frustratedpilot]

I think it's the issue of the AI as a literary character. They're tough to write plausibly.

I think we are approaching a cyberpunkish world, in fits and starts. I see far too many people carrying mobile phones (especially those who talk and drive simultaneously--curse them!) and gladly surrendering their lives to the world hypermind.

So far, though, this world is still limited to the "industrialized" nations. Little by little, the tech is going to filter out to the "developing", have-not nations and they will be the ones to watch.

Maybe the Matrix movies drove the greater issue into the ground. I still haven't seen them, but there seemed to be a cultural crunch when they ran their course.