Other People's Money: My Forbes story on the future of work
Forbes Magazine asked me to write a story about the Future of Work -- describing what work might be like in 20 years. I wrote them a little vignette called "Other People's Money" -- it's online today, and licensed Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike:
He went for the fish first. Its scales were individual slices from the skins of old Nokia phones--back when it was just Nokia, not Marvel Comics Mobile--each articulated on its own little sprig of memory wire. The gills were scuffed iPod backings, the logos just recognizable under the fog of scratches. The eyes bore HP and PlayStation logos, respectively, and the lips were made from inner-tube strips that bore the smallest recognizable logomarks. As he lifted it, it settled into his hand, arching back to find his thumb and palm, nestling in there.Link"It'll work like an old-time phone," she said. "It'll even do a little lookup from old-style exchange numbers to different identity registers and try to get you a voice-call with someone."
"Do people really do that?"
"Some do. Most just want it for the object-ness of it. It's got a lot of emotion." The scuffs, that's what did it. They were like stories, those scratches, each one a memento mori for some long-dead instant in some stranger's life.
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frbs pd y t wrt bt thr ppl's wrk.
prhps $200 f "grvy" (th rpblshng f KL skd frm thrs fr th wrk y stl) s symblc ct cld llvt th nsnty f cmplcty f mstks y hv md vr th rsl-gt ffr wld r-stblsh yr crdblty.
yr sqzd lttl g wth rspct t pst rltns wth th nw dsbndd Prcy cmmtt f th SFW hs brght th CC mvmnt nt mr dsrpt thn ny thr ct.
rspct yr prgrssv gstrs f shrtnng nd sbsqnt dltn f th rtcl n qstn (vryn mks mstks), bt bngbng st cmmnts scttrd rnd th KL rtcl ndcts tht dnyng cmmnts n th rgnl pst ws prbbly nws.
yr pst hstry wth th SFW Prcy cmmtt's (nw dfnct thnks t y) dmttdly vr nthsstc (frdlnt??) DMC ctns mks ths rtcl n "thr ppl's wrk", fr whch y wr pd, lttl hrd t dgst.
smll gstr cn smtms py lrg dvdnds.
w ll stnd n th shldrs f gnts nd smtms w nd t py rspct t ths.
Vortex, that was not a comment about this post.
ws ntrgd ngh t try t fgr t th txt f Vrtx's pst - nd t lgn t ths cmmnt systm fr th vry frst tm t pst ths.
Vrtx's pst s rlvnt, bcs t spks drctly t sng nd pyng fr thrs' wrk - n mprtnt ss.
Wrds nt fgrd t r lft mrkd *. KL s prsmbly crtn fms nd wdly-rspctd scnc fctn thr.
'frbs pd _y_ t wrt bt _thr ppl's_ wrk.
'prhps $200 f "grvy" (th rpblshng f KL skd frm thrs fr th wrk y stl) s symblc ct cld llvt th nsnty* f cmplcty f mstks y hv md vr th rsl*-gt(?) ffr (nd?) wld r-stblsh yr crdblty.
'yr sqzd* lttl g(?) wth rspct t pst rltns wth th nw dsbndd Prcy cmmtt f th SFW hs brght th CC mvmnt nt mr dsrpt(dsrspct? dsrptn?) thn ny thr ct.
' rspct yr prgrssv gstrs f shrtnng nd sbsqnt dltn f th rtcl n qstn (vryn mks mstks), bt bngbng st(?) cmmnts scttrd rnd th KL rtcl ndcts tht dnyng cmmnts n th rgnl pst ws prbbly nws.
'yr pst hstry wth th SFW Prcy cmmtt's (nw dfnct thnks t y) dmttdly vry nthsstc (frdlnt??) DMC ctns mks ths rtcl n "thr ppl's wrk", fr whch y wr _pd_, lttl hrd t dgst.
'smll gstrs cn smtms py lrg dvdnds.
'w ll stnd n th shldrs f gnts nd smtms w nd t _py_ rspct t ths.'
Shrtnng rtcls cn prhps smtms b t prgrssv.
'll jst dd tht 'v nvr pd fr Dctrw's wrk n th pst, dn't ntnd t n ftr, nd dn't rcmmnd t t thrs.
Cory, your vision of the future both frightens and inspires me - you always seem to write a solution to a pending ecol/econ-crises in every story. The theme of re-purposing technology that runs though your body of work is something that I hope our generation can instill into our children instead of infecting them with the crass/mass consumerism and disposable culture memes that so many people have succumbed to nowadays.
P.S. I'm curious to know if the character Kurt from 'Someone comes to town, someone leaves town' was partially based upon French Eric of the BFG's; he used to run the Mad Scientist recycled tech shop in the market.
@ Vortex - I think you need to talk to Pat Sajak about getting some vowels for your keyboard...
Or was that an attempt to be '1337'?
If you were attempting to be internet-cool through the dissonance of dropping your vowels from your post; it is my opinion that it did not work.
I'll admit that there was a time ( and there still could be some places) that the public usage of 1337 could have had a positive impact upon the content of your post. I believe that the average current internet user would rather spend the time to read a coherent, legible, article or comment rather than waste time attempting to decipher obfuscated language.
Complicity, that's a nice try, but you need to actually read the article; Vortex's post has absolutely nothing to do with it.
@shanealeslie, actually, Kurt was slightly based on the other guy from Rocket Science, Darren Atkinson.
Ah, the vowel removal is applied by BoingBoing to articles that they don't approve of, and don't want others to read.
That says a lot about BoingBoing.
Feel free to read something else, then. People who grind irrelevant axes at my dinner-party conversation are always welcome to go elsewhere. There are at least three topics on this very blog where this issue is being vigorously debated, but it's not going to be debated in all of them -- not least because of all the message board regulars who make a habit of contributing here are asking people like you to stop.
... or someone could swoop in while I'm writing my comment and make me look like a pontificating ass by deciphering your gibberish and reposting it for us to read.
As for paying for Cory's writing - you don't need to pay for it - he gives it away for free! I as yet have not bought physical copies of his work (I read pretty much everything off of an old Palm IIIx dedicated to being my 'pocket book' to avoid usage of dead tree media), but will eventually 'pay' for them in some manner - be it copies to give as gifts, donations to a cause that Cory finds important, or picking up the tab for him and a guest if he ever comes into Shanghai Cowgirl on either Friday night (after 9:00pm) or Sunday afternoon (when I'm working -hint hint).
@shanealeslie: >Disemvoweling is the removal of vowels from a text, used by moderators in cases where, as here, it improves the post in question.
I so love when fiction makes me long to see the physical objects it describes - it seems my favorite sci-fi often does that. I wonder if it speaks to my materialistic streak, my crafter soul or what, but it's a really strong pull/yearning... Anyway. Thanks for the story, Cory.
The formatting of the Forbes page does not do well on a high-rez monitor. There is a "print" link that does read well:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/13/cory-doctorow-fiction-tech-future07-cx_cd_1015money_print.html
This reads like it was pulled from Philip K. Dick's "Man in the High Castle" cutting-room floor.
I'll confess I haven't read a lot of Doctorow; this excellent snippet may have convinced me to read more.
It is my own coinage that a dead Wal*Mart should be referred to as an X*Mart. Glad to see a fully funtioning X*Mart, the one in my town has a Dollar store across the Garden Center from the Main Enclosure, and even with the rustoleum they slathered all over the front you can still read those 7 HUGE capital letters from the road.
omot: fine story, there, m doctrow. fish, stalls, casual mention of superior future tech, and the breakdown of venture capitalism into a simpleminded pyramid scheme. if youve ever tried to float a startup(especially out in the sticks) you know that attitude the proprietor mentions on p1.
pls dnt tk m vwls!
what is most interesting is that the items the proprietor sells (as well as the 'cars' the VC stooge made for his parents) are things of the past, long gone and only remembered through legend -- like vampires.