I, like, totally read the first 50 pages and thought, “This so big sucks.”
So I went to Princeton Public and checked out the audio version, downloaded it to my iPod and now it’s tolerable. It’s even kind of cool to hear “the feed” in the audio version, but I can’t really say that I’m a fan. I don’t really care for dystopic fiction and this hasn’t changed my mind, at least so far. And I think if there’s one thing that annoys me to no end, it’s teenspeak. Totally! Omigod! Whatev dude. The audio version really exaggerates this and I’m pretty sure my blood pressure is spiking and if I’d been exposed to massive amounts of gamma rays in my past I’d be going Hulk in my one bedroom apartment.
But to the point—is this where we’re headed with so much of our lives taking place online? I don’t really think it’s too much of an exaggeration to think that the ability to write, both the physical ability and the need to, are slowly eroding. Anyone recall the commercials on TV where the family is having a verbal IM conversation? I think this is a cell phone service commercial. My point is that kids are slowly starting to think in an abbreviated fashion.
And it’s not so far fetched that conversational skills are eroding because of technology. I think Titus’ fumbling attempts to converse with Violet are telling of this. Violet seems the most enlightened because she didn’t “get” the feed until she was 6. The rest have never known anything else, also eerily prescient. Kindergartners with cell phones—are you kidding me?
Do I think Anderson’s take on the future is possible? Definitely. Desireable? Definitely not, dude. I mean, like, da da da, information overload, da da da, art is dead, da da da, cockroaches, da da da, whatever.
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4 comments:
LOL...I so totally agree with you dude! I meg did not like the book the first time I read it for Materials for YA, but this time, I totally saw where it was coming from. I definitely saw the comparison between Titus and Violet and their intellectual ability. Was that based on the fact that she did not receive the feed until later? The only part that seemed the least bit favorable was the m-chat and the "in-head" shopping!
I also agree with your idea of people thinking in an abbreviated fashion, but I believe it's not only kids, but adults, too! I can tell you this cuz I do it! It is so much easier and faster to use abbreviations in everyday life--thanks to IMing and texting.
BTW, as a 1st grade teacher I can tell you that kids DO have cell phones. I have a little boy in my class that has one. Mom told me to use it as "leverage" if he does not behave! LOL
I do have to say though that there were some parts of the book that made me laugh...like Violet's father being a professor of dead languages... FORTRAN and BASIC!! Also the fact that the girls kept going into the bathroom to change their hairstyles because they were no longer in style. The best part for me as a teacher, was when Titus said he protested learning how to read in school on the basis that the Silent "E" was stupid!
Loved this post. It's meg right on target. I don't teach (I wouldn't last a day!) but my friends who teach middle school and lower tell me some stories about how tech savvy young kids are these days. Nice pick up on the absence of the generation gap...la la la...the parents in Feed are just as vacant as the kids...scary food for thought...da da da...gap is having a sale...
I see wut u mean by hatin im chat speak. It makes me CrAzY, srsly! ^-^
~Hacks and spits~
That left a numb feeling in my wrists and acrid taste in my mouth just typing it. Not a single word above was over 5 characters long either.
I cannot stand internet-speak. It has been the death of formal correspondence. So much context is lost that emoticons are now trying to fill in the gaps; but, despite their sheer number, the vessel that is understanding still leaks like a boat made of spun sugar, dissolving in an acrid sea of muddied thought.
I'm not a pessimist, honest. Overall, I thought that the book was pretty good so far, but more as food for thought. :-)
Certainly not a desirable future.
Peace,
-Steve
just want to say that your post had me rotflmfao. that's it....
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