“This is such a weird book because an amazing thing is introduced, but it’s introduced to a very Peter Bagge character, so it’s sort of like there’s this amazing thing and nobody gives a shit?
Basically there’s like full-sensory VR where people can re-live their lives in pretty accurate detail. They can make alternative choices and so on, but most of the visuals and sensations are the same (unless you go down a drastically different path and so on).
So it’s odd because the main character is pretty unenthusiastic about something that’s pretty amazing, but at the same time, maybe that’s the whole point of the book: What if we put an extremely Gen-X character, complete with hard apathy, into a situation that should be sort of amazing?
In another writer’s hands, I can see exactly how this would go: The person would re-live their life, but at some point would be like, “I can’t just redo the past, I need to DO the future!” And we sorta get there, but also sorta don’t, but it would feel totally uncharacteristic of this book to be over-the-top sunshine-y about the whole affair.
You know what technology I am the most backwards on? Wireless headphones. That shit is dumb.
One, how far away are you ever going to be from your music device?
Two, why have a headphone that needs to be charged when it’s going to be paired with something else that ALSO needs to be charged?
Three, for the cost of AirPods, I can get…7 pairs of wired earbuds?
Four, why are we letting manufacturers convince us that having anything other than a universal headphone adapter is a good thing? When it’s universal, I can use the same listening device on anything. I can buy nice headphones and use them on any device rather than buying shitty buds that work with only one device.
Five, wired earbuds don’t tend to fall in the toilet.
Six, it ties you to a phone, which is terrible.
Seven, they all look very silly.
Eight, Apple buds never stay in my ears. Ever. And how do you test out buds and find out if they work? It’s not like I can just go somewhere and cram a 3D printed version into my ear and dance around. Although someone should make that an option…
Nine, I’m out, I thought I could make ten, but we’re quitting at 9. Really at 8.”