4 ms·

I had the same thought regarding surveillance. At the risk of sounding like devil's advocate, had Gibson accurately predicted the high-tech panopticon of the mo

by ajxs 6y ago

I had the same thought regarding surveillance. At the risk of sounding like devil's advocate, had Gibson accurately predicted the high-tech panopticon of the modern day, he could create a much better thematic environment by ignoring or downplaying it. Much of the "high-tech, low-life" that characterises the sprawl would become near-impossible in the high-surveillance climate of a country like modern China. I feel like you'd have to expend so much literary energy constantly explaining how they shake the basic, ubiquitous surveillance we're used to,'excusing' the characters from overexposure. Then again, explaining the mechanics of anti-surveillance might provide the kind of cyberpunk brain food that we all love. That being said, there's plenty of ubiquitous surveillance happening in the Sprawl Trilogy. Marly's pursuit by Virek in Count Zero springs to mind here.

pmoriarty 6y ago
"there's plenty of ubiquitous surveillance happening in the Sprawl Trilogy. Marly's pursuit by Virek in Count Zero springs to mind here." But that's an exception, only made possible by Virek's virtually limitless wealth. When Marly becomes aware of this surveillance it's a shock to her, because she and most people in that world are not used to that level of surveillance. Contrast that with today's world, where most people know they're being tracked and surveilled, but are ok with it, or even willingly participate in surveillance of themselves. No one today would be surprised to be told they were recorded in public (due to ubiquitous cameras in public places) or that someone knew where they were (due to the tracking built in to their cell phones). Gibson did not foresee this.
- ajxs 6y ago
  You've made some great points! You're totally right that Gibson did not foresee this. I think there's a difference between Virek's near omnipotence, which terrifies Marly, and the modern surveillance state. The idea that someone's phone is monitoring their location and browsing habits wouldn't surprise someone today. The idea that someone had a network of people analysing their actions in real time definitely would though. When I originally read the Sprawl trilogy in the early 2000s, these instances of omnipresent surveillance really made an impression on me. Particularly those of Wintermute monitoring and protecting Case. The scene where Wintermute intercedes in Case's arrest ( which someone above mentioned ) stands out in particular. There's a playthrough on Youtube ( with commentary ) of 1993's Cyberpunk classic game System Shock by the original developers. They laugh together about their lofty predictions of video mail becoming the normal mode of communication. Instead we're still sending 120 char text messages in 2020. The future is hard to predict for many reasons.
bigiain 6y ago
> I feel like you'd have to expend so much literary energy constantly explaining how they shake the basic, ubiquitous surveillance we're used to,'excusing' the characters from overexposure. Cory Doctorow does a fairly creditable job explaining that in his Little Brother / Homeland/ Radicalized series.

by ajxs 6y ago

pmoriarty 6y ago

"there's plenty of ubiquitous surveillance happening in the Sprawl Trilogy. Marly's pursuit by Virek in Count Zero springs to mind here." But that's an exception, only made possible by Virek's virtually limitless wealth. When Marly becomes aware of this surveillance it's a shock to her, because she and most people in that world are not used to that level of surveillance. Contrast that with today's world, where most people know they're being tracked and surveilled, but are ok with it, or even willingly participate in surveillance of themselves. No one today would be surprised to be told they were recorded in public (due to ubiquitous cameras in public places) or that someone knew where they were (due to the tracking built in to their cell phones). Gibson did not foresee this.

ajxs 6y ago
You've made some great points! You're totally right that Gibson did not foresee this. I think there's a difference between Virek's near omnipotence, which terrifies Marly, and the modern surveillance state. The idea that someone's phone is monitoring their location and browsing habits wouldn't surprise someone today. The idea that someone had a network of people analysing their actions in real time definitely would though. When I originally read the Sprawl trilogy in the early 2000s, these instances of omnipresent surveillance really made an impression on me. Particularly those of Wintermute monitoring and protecting Case. The scene where Wintermute intercedes in Case's arrest ( which someone above mentioned ) stands out in particular. There's a playthrough on Youtube ( with commentary ) of 1993's Cyberpunk classic game System Shock by the original developers. They laugh together about their lofty predictions of video mail becoming the normal mode of communication. Instead we're still sending 120 char text messages in 2020. The future is hard to predict for many reasons.

bigiain 6y ago

> I feel like you'd have to expend so much literary energy constantly explaining how they shake the basic, ubiquitous surveillance we're used to,'excusing' the characters from overexposure. Cory Doctorow does a fairly creditable job explaining that in his Little Brother / Homeland/ Radicalized series.