Cyberpunk

where “Zelda” comes into the story. Zelda’s in today’s 65+ demographic, elderly but very vigorous, with some life-extension health issues. Zelda has smart pill-bottles that remind her of all her times and her dosages. She’s got cognitive blood-brain inhalers, and smart orthopedic shoes. Zelda wears the customary, elder-demographic, biomaintenance wrist-monitor. So I see Zelda as very up to speed with biomedical tech—so that her innate late-adapter conservatism has a weak spot that we might exploit. Is this approach working for the Team?

----

    From: Coordinator
    To: Design Team
    Subject: All right!!
    The Social Anthropologist knows just what we want: specificity. We’re building a technology designed for these two characters—who are they, what do they need? How can we exceed their consumer expectations, make them go “Wow”?
    And one other little thing—I’m not the “Leader.” It’s nice of Susan to say that, but my proper title is “Coordinator,” and the new CEO insists on that across all divisions.

----

    From: Graphics Gal
    To: Design Team
    Subject: My Turn
    Okay, well, maybe it’s just me, but I’m getting a kind of vibe from this guy “Albert.” I’m thinking he’s maybe, like, a hunter? Because I see him as, like, outdoors a lot? More than you’d think for a geek, anyway. Okay?

----

    From: Engineer
    To: Design Team
    Subject: Story Time
    Okay, I can play that way, too. “Albert Huddleston.” He’s the quiet type, good with his hands. Not a big talker. Doesn’t read much. Not a ladies’ man. But he’s great at home repair. He’s got the big house, and he’s out in the big yard a lot of the time, with big trees, maybe a garden. A deer rifle wouldn’t scare him. He could tie trout flies, if he were in the mood.

----

    From: Marketer
    To: Design Team
    Subject: The Consumables within Al’s Demographic
    A bow saw, an extendible pruner. Closet full of extreme-sports equipment from college that he can’t bear to get rid of.

----

    From: Graphics Gal
    To: Design Team
    Subject: What Is Albert really like?
    So he’s, like, maybe, a Cognition Science major with a minor in environmental issues?

----

    From: Marketer
    To: Design Team
    Subject: [none]
    Albert’s not smart enough to be a “Cognition Science major.”

----

    From: Legal Expert
    To: Design Team
    Subject: So-Called Cognition Science
    In a lot of schools, “Cognition Science” is just the Philosophy Department in drag.

----

    From: Team Coordinator
    To: Design Team
    Subject: Brainstorming
    It’s great to see you pitching in, Legal Expert, but let’s not get too critical while the big, loose ideas are still flowing.

----

    From: Legal Expert
    To: Design Team
    Subject: Critical Legal Implications
    Well, excuse me for living. Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but there are massive legal issues with this proposed technology. We’re talking about embedding hundreds of fingernail-sized radio-chirping MEMS chips that emit real-time data on the location and the condition of everything you own. That’s a potential Orwell situation. It could violate every digital-privacy statute on the books.
    Let’s just suppose that you walk out with some guy’s chip-infested fountain pen. You don’t even know the thing’s bugged. So if the plaintiff’s got enough bandwidth and big enough receivers, he can map you and all your movements, for as long as you carry the thing.
    Legal issues must come first in the design process. It’s not prudent to tack on anti-liability safeguards somewhere down at the far end of the assembly line.

----

    From: Engineer
    To: Design Team
    Subject: Correction
    We don’t use “assembly lines.” Those went out with the twentieth century.

----

    From: Marketer
    To: Design Team
    Subject: Getting Sued
    Wait a minute. Isn’t product liability exactly what blew us out of the water with the ultrasonic cleanser?

----

    From: The Social Anthropologist
    To: Design Team
    Subject: The Issues We Face As a Group
    There are plenty of major issues here, no one’s denying that. In terms of the story, though, I’m very intrigued with the Legal Expert’s views. There seems to be an unexamined assumption that a household control technology is necessarily “private.”
    But what if it’s just the opposite? If Al has the location and condition of all his possessions cybernetically tracked and tagged in real time, maybe Al is freed from worrying about all his stuff. Why should Al fret about his