How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
His foot kicked something metallic. A spent round? No. The gray lump had a triple antenna sticking out of the top. He tossed it into the bushes. He was not beyond the web even here. He pulled out his magic foolscap, surfed the local area. The picture showed the ground around him, from some kind of camera built into the paper; little signs floated above every weed—Ambrosia dumosa-this and Encelia farinosa-that. Ads for the park's gift shop scrolled across the top of the page. (8.11)
Pop-up ads are very annoying. So, imagine what it will be like in the future when you are always connected to the internet. You'll get pop-up ads everywhere! (Maybe.) This is what Robert discovers when he tries to get away from the internet. On the other hand, it seems super useful for your computer to give you info about the world around you.
Quote #5
Near the top of the hill, a Lesser Scooch-a-mout roared into the sky. That sound was not watts from some synthesizer. The departing Scooch-a-mout was how her view imaged the Park's high ride. The ride capsule blasted from deep in the hill, hit four gees before it coasted into the sky, giving its passengers almost a minute of zero-gee before touching down in the Park Annex. It was the most spectacular ride in Southern California. (13.9)
There's enough here to write a paper on. A) With all the virtual tech, people still go on amusement park rides. B) But because the park also is involved in virtual game playing, they make their park rides look like something that would fit in the world. So, when Miri is in Scooch-a-mout view, she sees a roaring Scooch-a-mout. In Cretaceous Returns, that ride sounds like thunder instead (4.34). So we can see how the virtual world deals with the non-virtual world here.
Quote #6
"Well, there's silent messaging. The bitrate is so low, it works when nothing else does."
"Yes! I've read about sming. It's like the old instant messaging, except no one can see you're communicating." (14.65-66)
"No one can see you're communicating." Let's let that sink in for a moment. Because while the old folks are pretty obvious when they type out SMs to each other, the young folk seem to do it very quickly and without any sign. Which means that they can almost telepathically communicate with anyone they want to. Now, imagine it from the other perspective: what if you were in a group of friends and you couldn't be sure whether or not they were gossiping about you—while you're right there?