One of my favorite science fiction writers Rudy Rucker has a new short story posted at Institute for the Future's Web site. The story, titled "Apricot Lane," was part of a large forecasting project my IFTF colleagues and I just completed called the Coming Age of Networked Matter, which lies beyond the Internet of Things. To help make this future tangible, we commissioned some of our favorite writers of speculative fiction — Cory Doctorow, Rudy Rucker, Ramez Naam, Bruce Sterling, Madeline Ashby, and Warren Ellis — to write short stories tied to our research theme.
Rudy's story is a romance amidst the Quarpet, a pervasive platform that enables a networked life of gossiping shoes, attention-sensing furniture, and automatic micro-payments everytime you enjoy anything. Just don't run out of money. To hear Rudy talk about the story, watch the animation above with art by Daniel Martin Diaz. To read Apricot Lane, and learn how you can win a limited edition print anthology of all the stories, visit the story page at IFTF: "Apricot Lane" by Rudy Rucker"
Previously:
