You have written "Virtual Light". So, what do you think of Virtual
Reality ?
If we take what I consider the "Sunday paper supplement" of VR, I mean Goggles & Gloves, I think that it has become very obvious, very cliche. I think that real VR is gonna come out from the new generation of visual effects in movies. I met Jim Cameron when he was editing "Terminator 2": he showed me the clips of the T-1000 emerging from fire in the L.A. canal. He said they were gonna use the actor for the whole shot, but it was easier for them to do it in digital. This is the future. One day there will be entire virtual replicas of real actors.
Incidentally, the book I'm writing now is about virtual celebrities. It's the story of a guy who becomes obsessed with the virtual replica of a star, and falls in love with her.
You're not fascinated by technology, and yet you come up with ideas on the edge…
When I write my books, my favorite part is always "art direction", not the plot. I admit I like giving people a visual impression of the world I'm creating. Then, I have to remind myself that I have to tell a story, foremost.
Another issue you focus on are Information Superhighways.
What actions have you taken ?
Bruce Sterling and I went to the National Academy in Washington to address the Al Gore people. We told them that this is the last chance to give the poorest schools equal chances than the richest. In a few years it will be too late and we won't be able to fill up the gap.
To me, Information Highways are best described by the most interesting image I've seen on TV during the Los Angeles riot. A Radio Shack shop (ED. a chain of shops selling consumer electronics gear) was being looted. Next to that there was an Apple shop, and it was untouched. People wanted to steal portable TVs and CD players, not computers. I think this clearly indicated the gaps of culture, or simply the gaps of chances, in our society. Besides, the Information Highway issue gives the public a false perception. They don't wanna offer you exhaustive accesses to information; they wanna offer you a new shopping mall.
What do you think of the Clipper issue ?
The NSA wants to legislate that every computer manifactured in the U.S. will have a chip built inside that will allow the Government to decrypt the information. The worst thing is that people are not informed of what is at stake here. Who would buy a computer with a spy inside? The Clipper chip is an admission of incompetence. They say they wanna be able to decrypt the information that would jeopardize National Security. But to can prevent the Medellin cartel to buy - say - into a Swiss corporation which comes up with a new encryption system which totally cuts out the Clipper ?