[jbenz]

Disclosure! Yeah, the one that became the movie with Demi Moore and Michael Douglas. A man is sexually harassed by his female boss.

The book is kind of about that, but also about technology. It was published in 1994 and I would say it was futuristic, if not a bit misguided.

Crichton envisioned a virtual reality tool where -- if you wanted to find a certain file on your computer -- you would run down the halls of a huge virtual library, opening virtual filing cabinets and picking through files by hand. I think this was supposed to make finding your digital files "easier"... but seems hilarious now.

Who knows, maybe some version of that will still come true. It's been a while since I read it, so I might be mis-remembering.

Almost all of his books had some futuristic technology involved, including Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Timeline, etc.

[harlanlewis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFkyV7d5t8o

I don't remember much about the plot, but can't ever forget that VR. <curmudgeon>The trends in "expressive" animated interface design make me think that dystopian future is still an aspiration for some designers. Just as soon as we all get headsets...</curmudgeon>

[kijin]

It's just skeuomorphism taken to the extreme.

We might not have to traverse miles of virtual hallways, but a lot of designers still seem to prefer to make us flick our fingers a lot. Each of us probably scrolls through hundreds of feet of virtual space every day. Before long, we'll probably begin to hear about whatever the index finger equivalent of carpal tunnel syndrome is.

But at least we don't have to swing our arms in midair for 8 hours a day like the poor folks in Minority Report.