Slashdot pointed out a brief but excellent interview of William Gibson by David Hiltbrand in the February 17 edition of the Philadelphia Inqurirer. The interview was done in advance of an appearance he made that night at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The visit to Philadelphia is part of a book tour to support his new book
Pattern Recognition.
I realize that it’s almost a sacrilege to say this in some parts of the technology gadget community, but I’ve never read a Gibson book, and I fell asleep while watching Johnny Mnemonic on one of my first dates with my wife. Nevertheless, I’m interested in reading Pattern Recognition after reading Hiltbrand’s interview with Gibson, and here’s why: In refering to the technology he uses at home, Gibson said:
Between my wife and daughter who still lives at home, I’m always the one with the slowest computer. I don’t find that being really up on all the latest technology ever does me any good.
Hiltbrand calls this “a shocking admission from the author who has painted such a vivid and chilling portrait of our microprocessed future,” which is pretty accurate. But, in a way, I’m impressed that Gibson would admit this.
Another reason I’m interested in Pattern Recognition is because the story is about a “‘cool-hunter’ who ferrets out developing consumer trends”. This sounds right up my alley. Reading more detailed reviews of the book, it’s pretty clear that the main character, Cayce Pollard, is not doing exactly the same thing that I’m doing here. So, it doesn’t seem like the book will hit too close to home.
I am also intrigued at the idea that Gibson may be trying to make a subtle commentary about the use of technology for its own sake through this book. This is an issue I am becoming more aware of, and trying to reconcile with my tendency to want to use many of the latest technology gadgets for the imagined sometimes imaginary marginal productivity improvements that they will bring to my life.
Readers in New York may be interested to hear that William Gibson will appear at the Columbia University Bookstore on Saturday, February 21.