How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph) or (Feed Chatter #.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Of course, everyone is like, da da da, evil corporations, oh they're so bad, we all say that, and we all know they control everything. I mean, it's not great, because who knows what evil s*** they're up to. Everyone feels bad about that. But they're the only way to get all this stuff, and it's no good getting pissy about it, because they're still going to control everything whether you like it or not. Plus, they keep like everyone in the world employed, so it's not like we could do without them. And it's really good to know everything about everything whenever we want, to have it just like, in our brain, just sitting there. (10.6)
Sound familiar? Even in our world, corporations make products and provide necessary services. For example, the computer you're reading this on right now was made by a corporation. After all, there aren't too many independent craftsmen making electronics. But maybe it's possible to find a balance between buying into corporations and opting out. We sure hope it is.
Quote #2
"What I'm doing, what I've been doing over the feed for the last two days, is trying to create a customer profile that's so screwed, no one can market to it. I'm not going to let them catalog me. I'm going to become invisible." (22.16)
This is Violet's way of rebelling against the feed and the corporations that control it. But not buying in comes at a high price, when FeedTech and other corporations refuse to repair her hacked feed. And the reason they give? They can't get a handle on her consumer habits, so she's not a bad investment risk (49.17). Folks, this is called irony.
Quote #3
"They have charts that show which chords are the most thumbs-up. Music is marketing. They have lists of key changes that get thirteen-year-old girls screaming. There's no difference between a song and an advertising jingle anymore. Songs are their own jingles." (22.34)
And M. T. Anderson wrote this without ever hearing One Direction. Seriously, though, it turns out that this is actually possible: researchers have figured out how to predict whether a song will be a hit. You just know music execs are peeing their pants over that.