How Dystopian Are We Going?

[Jonathan Meer]

Because it's a completely different world. For the first time in human history, people have two worlds open to them, and 'complete' freedom to emphasize one over the other. A person can lead a very 'fulfilling' life without ever entering the Net, and a person can lead a 'stimulating' life spending as much time as possible in the Net.

By no means does every conversation in the grocery line need to revolve around the Net.

EDIT: To touch on an earlier point, it sounds as though you expect the setting to provide a direct, central conflict as a stimulus for writing. I intend, instead (and, again, checked by the intentions of other participants, including yourself), a world made up of fuzzy conflicts, where sincere and intelligent people with different value systems fundamentally disagree on issues. Is AkiraTech wrong to provide _only_ a 7% discount for people who are damaged or disabled by last-gen firmware?

Yes, it's their responsibility to ensure their product doesn't harm anyone.

No, this is the risk of technological advances. Everyone knows the dangers.

Yes, profits should not be emphasized over human lives.

No, profit drives advances, which benefit humanity as a whole.

The conflict should come from the diversity of our characters, as well as any NPCs we develop.