Prime Time: Cornerstone Commerce

[Admin]

Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:11 pm

papa nurgle wrote:

So while the sourcebook has some points on the society of Prime Time, I wanted to bring up some holes and see what forum members thought...

1> What is the role of corporations in Prime Time, especially multi national corporations? Are these business like a law unto themselves, or have the nations of the world become more restrictive on corporations that cross many borders?

2> What is Prime Time's current geopolitical climate? Do the governments of the world know about immortals? What major confrontaions are going on during Prime Time?

3> What is the world markey and economy like? Has free trade finally happened or does politics continue to strangle our economic ties to other countries?

4> What does the average person know about the world at large? Has humanity regress to like the dark ages where the common man does not know much beyond thier home area or does the ease of access to information w=mean a more enlightend people?

[Admin]

Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:13 pm

Cris wrote:

Matt, these are really good questions. Here are some ideas to work with. The absolute best advice I can give you is to read the books which EJ has recommended. If you read them in this order, you will get a very complete picture of how EJ imagines the world evolving from this point forward. Here's the list:

Virtual Rock by Cris DiMarco
Virtual Death by Shale Aaron
Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

then, if you wish to go further than that, read Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross.

In general, Matt, all of these writers have taken current events, technology, etc. and extrapolated outward by looking at how quickly these separate elements have changed over the last 100 years.

For example, corporations will become massive--there will only be one soft drink company: Coca-Cola; one fast food provider: McDonalds; one fast food pizza maker: Dominos. Will there still be tiny little mom and pops? I think it's unlikely as we see more and more of these companies getting squeezed out, purchased or simply bankrupted every day.

Will we have free trade? Probably. As for multi-national corporations, I would suggest that you look into the current laws on the books, the current political views in the countries you're interested in and then create a scenario to post on the forum for discussion.

Do governments know about Immortals? I guess that would depend on whether or not the Grail drops into the Pentagon . . . or into the House of Parliment. If that's something you're interested in exploring in a piece of fiction, then I would post the specifics on the forum and let EJ and others weigh in on it and the implications this would have.

The world "outside" of Mardi Gras 3000--that is outside of the struggle for the Grail and the world of Celestials and Terrapyres--is part of what we will shape together, so I encourage you to post some specific ideas about corporations, the geopolitical climate, etc. and post these. That way, we'll have something specific to work with in our discussions.

I hope this helps, Matt. Start with the books. That will certainly answer a lot of your questions about the general world our characters are inhabiting.

Cris

[Admin]

Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:14 am

Brianne wrote:

"Cris wrote:

Start with the books. That will certainly answer a lot of your questions about the general world our characters are inhabiting."

Yeah, definately, Cris.

I'm actually working my way through them . . . on a slightly larger, older list. I've finished Snow Crash and Virtual Rock, and am into Virtual Death . . . plus a few others. =] Really, excellent books.

Brianne

[Admin]

Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:39 am

EJ wrote:

Hey, Brianne? Could you post the longer list? I was looking for it the other day and couldn't track it down.

I think the only specific weigh-in I have here is that, no, by and large, I do not want governments to know about Immortals.

Why? Because the proven existence of a species other than Human to Humans will change *everything* about Human culture. There are a vast number of books that tackle this first contact theme and well -- "Color of Distance" and "Iron Sunrise" most prominently. I am not interested in this being our focus.

As I've said in the past: Some writers and series explore culture and socio-economic progression. I would rather accept the givens laid by great writers who have come before us and keep our focus on the heart of MG3K -- the shades of morality that play within all living entities. The power of perception.

EJ

[Admin]

Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:43 am

Brianne wrote:

From EJ's Blog...

"I don’t think I’ve ever read an original novel set in the future. I’m not knocking SF authors here, I’m actually commending them. More than in any other genre, SF authors build on one another. Instead of creating a whole new world from the core out every single time, there are various givens of the genre (including the given that readers will be hip to the latest developments in real science and tech) that lead to a kind of Genre Knowledge (read: Racial Knowledge or Species Knowledge) as well as an elaborate lexicon and root system that allows authors to effortlessly utilize words like “metapolitics,” “slashdotted,” “computronium” and “metacortex” and still be certain that readers of the genre won’t be as lost as Jin, Sun and Mr. Echo.

Soon-to-be MG3K authors (ages 16 to 64) are asking me what *my* future (the MG3K future) looks like. Is everyone at least somewhat wired? Yes (religious antitech puritans being the exception). Have there been any nuclear incidents? Yes (didn’t anyone else watch ‘Jericho’?!). Contact from alien life forms? Most likely (space, another dimension, AI, whatever). What kind of tech, slang, and pop culture exists? What do people do for work? Fun? Terrorism? Politics? Love? Marriage? Death?

To answer these questions fully and in detail, I’ll provide a reading list. The books on the list will paint a picture of the MG3K future and also offer up nine excellent SF reads. They’ve certainly shaped the way I see the world and I think, if you’re reading this blog, you’ll get a wicked kick out of them too.

The books are in a specific order. They grow in complexity. Start at the beginning of the list because they build on one another. Just like knowing your multiplication tables ultimately helps with long division and beyond, you’ll need “Virtual Rock” to fully appreciate “Snow Crash” or “accelerando.” It will show you how far the genre has come and how 1 led to 2 which led to 3,ooo.

I’m not going to provide buy links for the books because I’m not an affiliate junkie. Beg, borrow, or buy the books wherever. The only book on the list published by Windstorm is “Virtual Rock,” so if you can’t get it from your local library, then it's 20% off at www.windstormcreative.com/windstorm/73971.htm. Or, I did a price check (as of today), and there are used copies of all nine books at Amazon. You can score the whole list for under $25.

1. Virtual Rock (Cris DiMarco)
2. The Demolished Man (Alfred Bester)
3. Armageddon Blues (Daniel Keyes Moran)
4. Virtual Death (Shale Aaron)
5. Virtual Light (William Gibson)
6. Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson)
7. Dead Girls (Richard Calder)
8. Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)
9. Accelerado (Charles Stross)

One last note about the books in general: There's swearing, pretty much any four-letter word. There’s sex, though not explicit. Some violence, but not heinous. I would rate them for 17+ mature readers that understand that not everyone in the world talks pretty or plays fair. The only exception is “Dead Girls.” This book is brilliantly written, rich in language and imagery and conceptual ideas, but it is utterly raw. It has brutal lexicon, explicit sex and torturous violence. If it were a movie, it would be rated somewhere south of an NC-17 rating (you know, NC-17, that rating *after* R). Go ahead and skip "Dead Girls" if this type of content would be too unsettling... though, at the pace our world is progressing, our future may very well be way south of “unsettling.”

[Admin]

Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:24 am

EJ wrote:

Thank you, Brianne.



EJ

[Cris]

Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:05 pm Launa wrote:

I'm really interested in franchise wars. You think there will only be one real franchise for food in the future? It makes sense, the way people are buying each other out. I'd think a lot of things by primetime would be all monopolized. Any ideas?

Mon Feb 09, 2009 9:38 pm JenDiMarco wrote:

In terms of other parts of the food industry, it could go so many ways. It could become government regulated or genre of food could be owned and controlled (like Mars has *all* candy... Kellogg has all grains... East Indian Spices has all herbs, spices, and salt... Sunkist has all fruit and veggies... Max has all meat LOL!)

Probably it would be a combination of the two -- government controlled and megacorp owned. Like how corps bid to provide wifi for entire cities. Megacorps would bid to provide food for an entire State or City-State. Maybe all the megacorps could provide all kinds of food but their prices on their specialty would be cheaper than anyone else. (So... you'd have States that may have average food but *amazing* chocolate.)

I do think, no matter how the provider network works out, that we'll see a difference in how things are packaged to condense space and prolong shelf-life.

Jennifer

Cris wrote: Jenn

I have to agree with you. I think that one corporation is going to dominate and the others are going to get squeezed out. We're already seeing that with bookstores--even some of the chains have been purchased (Borders by Amazon.com, for example) and it's going to get worse. The economy has really kicked the feet out from under many "smaller" corporations. Even some of the large publishing houses are starting imprints that will not offer royalties and sell their books on a non-returnable basis. McBurger... I am guessing Starbucks, McDonalds, Amazon.com, Coca-cola, Mars Candy ... and of course Peeps.