How we cite our quotes: Chapter, Paragraph
Quote #1
They just had their first baby, so I got this desktop computer with Windows 95 and a color monitor.
I'm scrolling through various screensavers when someone rings the doorbell. I let my mom answer it because I still haven't decided between a shifting brick wall maze and a web of plumber's pipes. (1.2-3)
To set the scene here in 1996, Emma is describing her new computer. It's a desktop with a color monitor, which is totally high tech stuff at this time. And the most exciting accessory is the screen saver. Emma is unable to decide which one she wants to use—the possibilities are just too exciting.
Quote #2
"Doesn't your family want it?" I ask.
Josh shakes his head. "My parents don't want to get the Internet. They say it's a waste of time, and my mom thinks the chatrooms are full of perverts." (1.18-19)
When the Internet came out, people were skeptical, and here we see that Josh's mom is especially wary of online chatrooms, where people can hide their identities. While she's right—there's totally major sketchiness potential online—we know now that pretty much everyone uses the Internet, not just perverts.
Quote #3
EmmaNelson4Ever@aol.com, I type. "Millicent."
For about twenty seconds, my monitor freezes. Then the white box snaps into a tiny blue dot and a new webpage fades in. It has a blue banner running across the top that says "Facebook." A column down the center of the screen is labeled "News Feed" and under that are tiny photos of people I don't recognize. Each photo is followed by a brief statement. (1.49-50)
If you were asked to describe what Facebook looks like, what would you say? Emma's describing it from the perspective of someone who's never seen—or even dreamed of—it before. Have you ever thought of statuses as "statements"? It's what they are, right?
Quote #4
I rub my palms across my knees. One side of my brain whispers that this could be a website from the future. The other side of my brain screams at the first side for being an idiot. (2.36)
One of the cool things about The Future of Us is that it treats the present like the future. The future aside, though, Josh and Emma can't believe that this website exists; it's such a weird idea to post personal information online every day. And when that personal information is yours from the future, well, things only seem stranger.
Quote #5
Josh sets the keychain on my desk and sits down. When he jiggles the mouse, the brick wall disappears and everything's right where I left it, with Emma Nelson Jones writing about macaroni and cheese.
"Why does it say she has three hundred and twenty friends?" Josh asks. Who has that many friends?" (5.19-20)
In addition to the fact that it changes communication, Facebook re-defines the word friend. Which leaves us with one giant question: Are Facebook friendships real friendships? We'll let you decide.
Quote #6
"You know how Vice President Gore calls the Internet the 'Information Superhighway'? Let's say everyone's going the same direction on this superhighway. Time travel would be about finding a way to jump to a different spot." (6.24)
Emma and Josh are doing their best to figure out how they could be travelling in time. The Internet is so new that they're open to the idea that it could contain a whole new world of possibilities… you know, like the ability to "jump" ahead in time.
Quote #7
I shift my paper bag to the other hand and say, as casually as possible, "What do scientists think about time travel?"
She lifts her tray up to her chin and pinches a fry with her teeth. "Why?"
"I'm just curious," I say. "Back to the Future was on cable last night." (9.34-36)
Here's the problem with encountering the future: Chances are decent no one will believe you. Here we see Emma trying to play it cool while asking Kellan whether scientists take time travel seriously.
Quote #8
Tyson's towel is wrapped tight around his waist. He reaches beneath it to pull off his gym shorts. "I tried getting my dad to buy me a beeper for my birthday," he says, "but he thinks only doctors and drug dealers need them." (18.3)
Pagers were another technological fad of the 90s. Usually worn on a belt loop, you could beep someone to get in touch with them—think of it as like the pre-text message device. Tyson's complaining that he really wants one but his dad doesn't think he has any use for it.
Quote #9
"An instant message!" Emma scrambles off the bed. "I've never gotten one of these before."
I cross my legs and turn toward the computer.
"The screen name says it's from DontCallMeCindy," Emma says. "I have no idea who that is, but she's asking if I'm the Emma Nelson who goes to Lake Forest." As she taps at the keys, Emma tells me what she's writing. "Tell me who you are first." (26.87)
Instant message is a new thing in the 90s, and in order to use it, you had to come up with a screen name. But while the Internet might be newfangled tech, Emma's already savvy to playing it safe online—you see how she's careful not to tell some random person who she is? You go, girl.
Quote #10
I sit on the edge of my mattress and stare at the phone. If my parents come home early I don't want them eavesdropping on this call. I'm nervous enough already. So I run to their room, grab the cordless phone from the nightstand, and then head downstairs.
I walk across my lawn toward the street. Every time Sydney comes into Peer Issues, she turns off her cell phone and slips it into her pocket. It always looks so casual and cool. I try shoving the cordless phone into my back pocket, but it's too chunky to fit. (28.12-13)
Oh, the trials and tribulations of trying to get in touch with a crush before individual cell phones. Josh is worried that when Sydney calls the home phone his parents will interrupt—while she happens to have one of those newfangled cell phones that fits into a pocket, Josh isn't so lucky. So he takes the family's cordless phone and sneaks out of the house with it, though it's so large that it won't fit into his pocket.