Feed is a tragic love story told from the perspective of Titus, a young American who is about to enjoy a vacation on the moon. Titus and all of his friends have "feeds": a device which is implanted in the brain and allows its user unlimited access to an infinite amount of information provided by the feednet, a futuristic equivalent of the internet. The feeds also serve a capitalist purpose as well: they are used to market products to the populace, keeping track of items that people buy and using a database to determine what other products one might be interested in to inform future marketing. These items can be bought at the speed of thought: Titus at one point buys clothing while driving his "upcar" home from a fight with his girlfriend Violet. Violet, who Titus meets on his vacation on the moon, comes from a family which is significantly less well-off than those of Titus and his friends. Due to her family's lack of money, she didn't get her feed until much later in life than Titus or his friends. This contributes to Violet's much different perception of the world. She can remember a time when there were no images in her head, no advertising, no stream of information, and she had to read books to find out what she wanted to know. Violet is very intelligent, and Titus finds her very interesting, so they become a couple. The contrast between the way Violet sees the world and the perspectives of the other marketing-flooded teens is the subject matter for much of the novel.
Unfortunately, there is a problem with Violet's feed. An event which occurs early on in the novel causes a problem with her feed, and she begins to experience debilitating side effects... Will Titus be able to accept his now-even-more-flawed girlfriend for what she is? Or will he return to his commercial pseudo-paradise with his more "normal" peers?
Analysis: Feed paints a disturbing picture of the possibilities of the internet. We have already experienced a spike in the availability of information: this availability could have all kinds of negative consequences. Feed is a dystopic novel- a description of a future society which we are supposed to find disturbing. I found this novel to reminiscent of Brave New World, in that it presents us a society which has both enticing and disturbing aspects. The ability to access any piece of information in an instant would be nice... and is almost already a possibility. Of course, the negative aspect is that the kind of banner ads and spam e-mail that we find on the internet would become a part of everyday perception, and corporations would have as easy access to the minds of the public that the public has to their catalogues. This book would be good as part of the reading ladder I suggested in the section on Little Brother. It would be well suited to any high school student and some high-level middle school students.
Ideas for Class: This book would work well in conjunction with an internet assignment. Maybe your students would like to see how far their internet tentacles can stretch. Assign each student a topic to research which connects with the novel using the internet. Who can get the most information on their topic? Ask students to note how much advertising they had to view in their pursuit of information. (Maybe keep track of the number of ads they viewed?)
Topic Ideas: computer code, bluetooth technology, a given celebrity or politician, new car model, etc.
Ask students how they feel about their experience. Would they prefer to find information in books in libraries or use the internet to access it more quickly, despite the onslaught of advertising that always accompanies its use?
Analysis: Feed paints a disturbing picture of the possibilities of the internet. We have already experienced a spike in the availability of information: this availability could have all kinds of negative consequences. Feed is a dystopic novel- a description of a future society which we are supposed to find disturbing. I found this novel to reminiscent of Brave New World, in that it presents us a society which has both enticing and disturbing aspects. The ability to access any piece of information in an instant would be nice... and is almost already a possibility. Of course, the negative aspect is that the kind of banner ads and spam e-mail that we find on the internet would become a part of everyday perception, and corporations would have as easy access to the minds of the public that the public has to their catalogues. This book would be good as part of the reading ladder I suggested in the section on Little Brother. It would be well suited to any high school student and some high-level middle school students.
Ideas for Class: This book would work well in conjunction with an internet assignment. Maybe your students would like to see how far their internet tentacles can stretch. Assign each student a topic to research which connects with the novel using the internet. Who can get the most information on their topic? Ask students to note how much advertising they had to view in their pursuit of information. (Maybe keep track of the number of ads they viewed?)
Topic Ideas: computer code, bluetooth technology, a given celebrity or politician, new car model, etc.
Ask students how they feel about their experience. Would they prefer to find information in books in libraries or use the internet to access it more quickly, despite the onslaught of advertising that always accompanies its use?
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