Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash
In Snow Crash, a novel by Neal Stephenson, Stephenson examines how expanding technology affects a society. He introduces us to a world where a computer virus is altering people's minds, and where they have no control over themselves. He vividly describes how Hiro, the protagonist, must fight the virus to save the future of the world.
Technology is expanding everyday. Our society has grown and expanded and has become extremely powerful because of new technologies. People are learning how to use computers in place of their tasks. The Internet is a prime example is of expanding technology. One can obtain yesterday's and today's news, listen to music, talk to a friend over seas, view pornography, and countless other things in the privacy of one's home via the Internet. There is no way to really regulate what is on the Internet. Essentially, the government has no place on the Internet. This world is free of from laws. As society moves closer to advanced technology, the government becomes removed. There is no way for them to regulate society's actions once everything is computer based. In Snow Crash, Stephenson creates the Metaverse. In this society no laws exist.
Hiro, the Protagonist, is the narrator of the novel. As Hiro tells the story, there is no form of government anymore. The government has long been over, and has been replaced by individual corporations with their own sets of rules. There were many corporations, Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong being one of them, where one could be a citizen and apply for a passport. Mr. Lee owned franchises in Hong Kong and people needed a passport in order to get into Greater Hong Kong (p.99). Information was vital to these corporations. Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong asked people to share information with them if the person decided to join the corporation and become partners (p.99). Hiro worked for the CIC (Central Intelligence Agency), where he got interesting information-gossip, videotape, audiotape, or a computer disc concerning different corporations. Large corporations, or any person interested in something he found, paid him for use of the information and used it to their advantage (p.22).
As well as working for he CIC, Hiro is a freelance hacker. He is one of the creators of the Metaverse. The Metaverse is "virtual reality." People here are represented by a pie...
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... the Internet, you can have an e-mail address which can essentially take the place of regular mail as well as the telephone.
With all the technology today, the Internet is still off-limits to certain people. Everyone does not own a computer and because of this, everyone is not computer literate. Mostly middle and upper class people have their own laptops, or computers, and are able to pay for Internet service. Other people, like student's who use their schools computers or people who go to libraries, are forced to use whatever equipment is available, which is, in most cases, not top of the line and sometimes may or may not have the Internet. Soon this world will be computer-based and if you do not have your own computer or at least access to one, you will be behind. The Internet is an important part of computers considering the many uses it offers.
Stephenson foretells how the future for today could be if we allow all these new technologies to take over our lives. Everyone must learn how to incorporate new technology into their lives without letting it consume them, even though it will still consume many. Once it consumes you , you are pretty much a victim of Snow Crash.
The internet is no longer just a source for research, as Cascio has said “ the digital systems we rely upon become faster, more sophisticated, and capable too” (Cascio). What he means by this is that we can rely more on technology to help us because it’s developing to become efficient to our daily needs. For example, there are tasks we can now complete on the internet that used to require plenty of time. Things like going to pay rent, purchasing groceries, or going to the bank are all things that can now be done online due to the faster, more capable power of the internet. Once time consuming or complex tasks are now simple to complete with just a few clicks. This is a beneficial concept to those who have busy schedules, have difficulties with transportation, disabilities that don’t allow them to maneuver much, or anyone who just doesn't have the time, patients, or ability to stand in long, never-ending waiting lines. According to the previously mentioned study done by Nanjing University of Science and Technology with the University of South Australia “elderly people are increasingly using mobile devices to conduct online banking, find jobs, access medical help, and obtain entertainment information” (Ma). This research goes to at the least provide an example of one group of people who have benefited from using the internet to make their life
By using a product of technology, the computer, and showing how it was supposed to be a perfect solution to the city's problems, yet it made a grave error in calculations, the author is saying that many problems faced by man cannot be solved by the use of technology. Technology played a negative role in this book. The computer, the major aspect of technology used in this book, used its capabilities to immorally rule the citizens and the city of Thompsonville. The computer transmitted hypnotic signals through peoples T.V. sets and would use them to carry out it's will to ultimately control the city.
The novel is about Hiro a young pizza delivery man who also had skills as an expert hacker and a swordsman. The writer’s story is mainly around the experiences of Hiro who was seeking a solution to a virus that was being used by a cult to take control of the world by controlling the masses. The main characters in the novel Y.T and Hiro meet as they carruout research to find a cure for the deadly virus. The novel portrays the theme of gender an sexuality as well as the manner in which the current world views these themes in the current setting.
The opening paragraph of the novel evokes the consequences of unharnessed technology and contemporary man’s contented refusal to acknowledge the consequences (Watt).
In the past 100 years, the world has completely turned around. The technological and computer revolutions have completely changed the way the world works. Henry Ford revolutionized factorial production through the creation of the assembly line. It increased efficiency and a basic standard of conformity among products, therefore making the company a lot more successful. The rest of the industry creating a nation-wide revolution based on efficiency adopted this new innovation. Following the innovation of the assembly line, a new era of development came into existence. In the 1970’s, computers were first introduced. Although they were as large as a room and could only play tic tac toe, they were the start of the technological revolution that made our society what it is today. Hundreds, if not thousands, of new inventions were thought of each year, creating new jobs and a new way of life. Records and files previously kept in file cabinets are now all computerized. Every person’s life is computerized: identification, police reports, one’s house and work. Almost every person has a computer, whether it is used for fun, school, Internet connection, graphic arts, or music. Computers have revolutionized our lives, whether that is a good or bad thing is the question. Do we create and control the computers, or have our own inventions taken such a hold on our lives, that they now control us? Aldous Huxley uses Henry Ford as the basis for an omni powerful leader who enforces the new values of efficiency through a totalitarian and mind-controlling government; subsequently, Huxley creates Brave New World to warn us of the effect that technology will have on our lives in the future.
Many parents around the world would like to think that they are very involved in their child’s life. Even if they are actively involved in their child’s life, it does not necessarily mean that there is an accurate depiction of communication between both, the parents and their children. Although there may be many different reasons for the lack of communication, it is well known that the phenomenon is worldwide. There are many instances of this in popular media such as television and books because of the frequency of the occurrence which makes it easy for viewers or readers to relate to characters within these forms of media. One of the many examples of media forms that create a clear mirror to this issue is in the novel “Snow Crash,” by Neal Stephenson.
Technology turns into something new everyday. From computers to smartphones, technology comes in all shapes and sizes. Most people hope to receive new advancements from technology to do more activities for them. This is not in the best interest for mankind. In Ray Bradbury’s three short stories The Veldt, The Pedestrian, and August 2026, Bradbury describes three different worlds, where he shows the possible outcome of the world if technology advances too far. Each story leads to negative effects on humans and the worlds that they live in. Technology does not have all of the solutions to present day solutions.
In the novel Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, the author portrays a society where technology play a huge role. Throughout the novel, we see Y.T. and Hiro Protagonist partner up in order to gather intel and sell it for profit. These two characters encounter many difficulties regarding the virus snow crash, which is affecting the population in the metaverse. Both of these characters fight against the technology that they have been presented with. As a result, it is clear that technology in this specific novel actually plays a negative role, despite it being a vital aspect of society, because of the effects of technology in the metaverse and in the real world.
Technology is becoming increasingly popular; we are forced to confront it everyday. Ray Bradbury has noticed this trend of people becoming more and more dependent on technology; after all we use the television, computers, and even automobiles everyday. In the pedestrian Ray Bradbury has used insect images in The Pedestrian that suggests that with the increasing number of people using technology it will trap and destroy us.
People have been completely dependent on machines. Forster is warning the future generations. In the story, he shows how technology will destroy the communication amongst people, and how it will ultimately be the end of us. In “The
In summary, both the article and the novel critique the public’s reliance on technology. This topic is relevant today because Feed because it may be how frightening the future society may look like.
As technology progresses since the time of the application of the Constitution in 1787, the government is naturally going to run into unprecedented circumstances because of the invention of entities that have never existed before. This means that they have no formal decisions to base their actions on. One such unprecedented circumstance is the use of the internet by millions of Americans. Being that all of your internet content is kept track of and saved in a way that an organization with a lot of power (such as the government) could potentially monitor you, it seems inevitable that controversies may arise with respect to internet monitoring. I firmly believe in a hands-off attitude towards internet content and control. It has been understood for a couple
The text of “Burning Chrome” by William Gibson, is based on the tale of two professional hackers, Automatic Jack and Bobby Quine. Jack buys a piece of unknown software that turns out to be a sophisticated and almost untraceable Russian hacking software. Bobby decided to use this software to break in and steal money from a high level and well connected criminal known as Chrome. After Jack agrees, the two hackers successfully break in and steal money as well as take down Chrome. These two characters live in a futuristic world where human anatomy and customizable technology have become one and both software and hardware have become crucial to the people of this time. In this essay I will briefly explain how software and hardware play a crucial part within the plot and how they differentiate from one another.
The internet as we all know is probably the most useful resource known to man in this day of age. Not only is the internet easy to access its easy to use. Nearly everyone owns a computer and nearly all of which have access to the internet. But isn't that a good thing? Millions of people having the ability to access and share all the information anybody could ever want.
The internet is getting bigger and faster everyday, an individual can log on to the internet and buy sell or trade anything, the world wide web can bring the world into your home where anything can be looked up to learn or to amuse. Computer chips are being put in a wide range of things today, from appliances to cell phones to automobiles; an owner can now have their automobile checked for any problems while they are driving down the road via a satellite and find out if they should go in to have it repaired.