3 ms·

The book was released in 1984. Could it be that his descriptions of tech were just true to the times? I imagine his stylistic embellishments were also important

by needz 8y ago

The book was released in 1984. Could it be that his descriptions of tech were just true to the times? I imagine his stylistic embellishments were also important in the same way older movies about technology (e.g. Hackers[0]) stylize digital events. [0]: https://youtu.be/Bmz67ErIRa4?t=69 https://youtu.be/Bmz67ErIRa4?t=69

kasey_junk 8y ago
It was routinely criticized as not being true to IT when it came out.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- jhayward 8y ago
  Not that I recall, and I read it within months of release. Can you point to some contemporaneous reviews or critiques that do so?
  - kasey_junk 8y ago
    The literary critiques & reviews were hugely positive about Neuromancer, but its a fairly common take down of the book how bad the technology pieces are. Here is an interview with Gibson where he talks about it: https://www.wired.com/2012/09/interview-with-william-gibson/ https://www.wired.com/2012/09/interview-with-william-gibson/ (For the record he talks about it in agreement, he thinks he himself could write a good takedown of the technology).
    - jhayward 8y ago
      Thanks for that interview link. Note that it was almost 30 years after publication. I suppose a critique of "not sufficiently prescient" is supported by it, but "known at the time of publication that it got the IT wrong", which is what I think the GP was saying, isn't.
- pmoriarty 8y ago
  I was a huge computer geek when the novel came out in 1984. It completely blew my mind. I absolutely loved it. Criticizing it for not being "true to IT" was the furthest thing from my mind. Though I later found out it might not have been quite the first to go there, to me it seemed to herald a paradigm shift in scifi, towards a much grittier, darker future where one could inhabit (or, in a certain sense, commune) with computers. It was kind of like a darker version of Tron, which came out only a couple of years earlier. Sure, it might not have been like using computers in real life, but it was not pretending to be about the current reality. It was scifi. It was about a possible future.
- eropple 8y ago
  At the time, there were also very large parts of "IT" where it was a compiler error to write code while not wearing a shirt and (blue) tie. Horses for courses, and all that.

by needz 8y ago

kasey_junk 8y ago

It was routinely criticized as not being true to IT when it came out.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
jhayward 8y ago
Not that I recall, and I read it within months of release. Can you point to some contemporaneous reviews or critiques that do so?
- kasey_junk 8y ago
  The literary critiques & reviews were hugely positive about Neuromancer, but its a fairly common take down of the book how bad the technology pieces are. Here is an interview with Gibson where he talks about it: https://www.wired.com/2012/09/interview-with-william-gibson/ https://www.wired.com/2012/09/interview-with-william-gibson/ (For the record he talks about it in agreement, he thinks he himself could write a good takedown of the technology).
  - jhayward 8y ago
    Thanks for that interview link. Note that it was almost 30 years after publication. I suppose a critique of "not sufficiently prescient" is supported by it, but "known at the time of publication that it got the IT wrong", which is what I think the GP was saying, isn't.
pmoriarty 8y ago
I was a huge computer geek when the novel came out in 1984. It completely blew my mind. I absolutely loved it. Criticizing it for not being "true to IT" was the furthest thing from my mind. Though I later found out it might not have been quite the first to go there, to me it seemed to herald a paradigm shift in scifi, towards a much grittier, darker future where one could inhabit (or, in a certain sense, commune) with computers. It was kind of like a darker version of Tron, which came out only a couple of years earlier. Sure, it might not have been like using computers in real life, but it was not pretending to be about the current reality. It was scifi. It was about a possible future.
eropple 8y ago
At the time, there were also very large parts of "IT" where it was a compiler error to write code while not wearing a shirt and (blue) tie. Horses for courses, and all that.