The technology in Rainbows End is pretty much what's coming for us in the next few years-to-decades: self-driving cars, wearable computers (like Google Glass), internet everywhere, and (fingers crossed) cures for old-people diseases.
But these gadgets aren't just cool guesses about what the future will be like; all that tech causes some pretty big changes in the way people live their lives, from houses without books to old people going back to high school. This isn't to say that all that tech is good. Some of the same tech that leads to miracle cures could also lead to miracle epidemics.
Questions About Technology and Modernization
- What technology (or -gies) in the book is most important to the plot? Is there any tech here that's just in the background?
- Does technology ever fail the characters here? When/how?
- How does technology interact with the other themes here, like "Art/Culture" and "Old Age"? Do we get a sense of character's "identity" because of how they deal with technology?
- Is there any old technology that is still useful in the future in this book?
Chew on This
Rainbows End shows us that technology will never be more important than people.
Technology in Rainbows End is close to what we have now, but is leading towards something radically different (like Rabbit).