Conversely, the ability of people to get almost any peice of information at any time anywhere has wiped out a vast number of traditional plot devices, which mak

Conversely, the ability of people to get almost any peice of information at any time anywhere has wiped out a vast number of traditional plot devices, which makes things surprisingly difficult for the modern story-teller. It has opened up new landscapes, but because communication and knowlege are so easy now the kinds of stories we can tell in them are very different. My own "living in the future" story: I have a number of friends who have family involved in the space program, including a couple of astronauts. I was hiking with one a few years ago and she commented on a big family gathering at Thanksgiving, mentioning, "Of course so-and-so wasn't there because he's on the space station." It just made me pause and take stock, while the ten-year-old me did backflips because I was living in the future, and it was good.