| Quin stood up and tossed his long body in a way that made his jacket fly off. He was not a thick-built man but he had muscles from working. He whirled the jacket round to his front and used his thumbs to thrust out a sheaf of tags sewn into the back of the collar. I could see the logo of a company, which I recognized from ten years ago, though they had made it simpler. Below it was a grid of tiny pictures that moved. “Kinagrams. They obsoleted Logotype.” … “Why do you suppose it became obsolete, then?” asked Orolo. “So that the people who brought us Kinagrams could gain market share.” Orolo frowned and considered this phrase. “That sounds like bulshytt too.” “So that they could make money.” “Very well. And how did those people achieve that goal?” “By making it harder and harder to use Logotype and easier and easier to use Kinagrams.” “How annoying. Why did the people not rise up in rebellion?” “Over time we were led to believe that Kinagrams really were better.” … “Where were we?” Quin asked, then answered his own question: “You were asking me if I could read, not these, but the frozen letters used to write Orth.” He nodded at my leaf, which was growing dark with just that sort of script. “Yes.” “I could if I had to, because my parents made me learn. But I don’t, because I never have to,” said Quin. “My son, now, he’s a different story.” --------------------------- That section plus Samman's little bit about the "Artificial Inanity" systems that made the internet basically unusable are hitting way too close to home these days. |
2008. Stephenson is 10 years ahead of the current discourse, as usual.