We can see in such gadgets a victory of the
most superficial tastes people might have. But once the
gratuitous moment is over, and first reactions fade away, we
face a pragmatic situation which, whether synthesized messages
are used or not, reflects an underlying structure better adapted
to the complexities of the new scale of humankind.
The holographic dollar bill that declines its name might even
become useless when transactions become entirely electronic. The
voice of our cars might end up in a museum once the generalized
network for guiding our automobiles is in place, and all we have
to do is to punch in a destination and some route expectations
("I want to take the scenic route"). Moreover, the supertech car
itself might join its precursors in the museum once work becomes
so distributed that the energy orgy, so evident on the rush-hour
clogged highways, is replaced by more rational strategies of work
and life. Telecommuting is a timid beginning and a pale image of
what such strategies might be. The speaking greeting card might
be replaced by a program that remembers whose birthday it is
and, after searching the mugshot of the addressee (likes rap,
wears artificial flowers, is divorced, lives in Bexley, Ohio),
custom designs an original message delivered with the
individualized electronic newspaper when the coffee is ready. A
modest company manufacturing screensavers, using today's still
primitive applications in the networked world, could already do
this.
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