STRIC STLY PERSONAL ] HAVEN’T seen much writ- ten lately about the electron- ic cottage. It used to be a big item, back when peopie — like the visionary Frank Ogden —- were speculating about the post-home com- puter era. Probably the reason we don’t hear much about the electronic cot- -tage is because it has become so ordinary that we hardly take any more notice of it than we do the miracle of plumbing, which did as much to change the world as any single invention. In fact, let me preface my : remarks by stating that, much as [ appreciate and enjoy the electronic cottage, given a choice of living in a civilization with plumbing but no TV, or vice versa, but I’d opt for the toilets, than you very much. ' Let’s keep in mind that the elec- tronic cottage is part dnd parcel of the Global Village, so a bow in the direction of a hologram of Marshall ~ Mcl.uhan is in order.’ The great Canadian intellectual space case was, indeed, a Seer. As, . by the way,-is Ogden. (Hi, Frank! ° See your book on how books are obsolete got onto the best- selling : book list.) “ >\MeLuhan and Ogden were and are blessed with the knack of seeing the effects of technological changes, which the‘rest of us never - had the time or wit, or a broad- enough knowledge, to figure out : ourselves. i _ I think as more of us hunker down in our electronic cottages, we will become more like McLuhan --and Ogden in our thinking. In other words, we can’t help but shift to a ‘global levet of awareness, People didn't used to think in global terms at all, except fora handful of mystics, generally viewed as nuicases. It was purely us and them, and “them” was arybody not part of our immediate tribe. McLuhan'‘s thesis was that, thanks to industrialization and mass communications, we were becom- ing, like it or not, one big tribe. This didn’t mean less bickering, it. meant more, We would all become involved in each other's woes and weirdnesses. The electronic cottage is many things, but it is first and most, a communications outpost. Call it, to be cute,.a data base camp. A little mont n’ pop chip store along the information superhighway, A satel- lite-linked fibre optic dolls house. A sometimes interplanetary super- communications pod. Othenvise known as home sweet home. It amazes me (although il shouldn't) how naturally the kids take to living in the cyberspace bubble that our family dwelling has become. At 15 and nine, our son and daughter casually make social arrangements over cell phones, leave messages dn their answering machines, tape shows, play com- puter and video games, operate remotes while jockeying two calls ona cordless, and, have even been known to use the fax to move homework to’school; these skills on top of the pioneering Canadian instinct to make long-distance calls to relatives. You can imagine what our phone bills are! Ours is a modest operatien. Four TVs, three VCRs, two cells, seven phones, three home numbers, one intercom, four computers, nine still cameras, two videocams, four tape recorders, three monitors, one copi- er, one fax, three printers. This with the modem still not yet functioning. And we await our home VR unit as soon as the price comes down. My wife designs cablevision systems in her own office at home, and faxes them off, while I do my writing in the cabin in the back yard. Soon, I hope to be able to do television from home, using ‘super- imposed backgrounds. I mean, why get the reporter all dirty and , bruised? At that point, in theory, we could live anywhere in the world, the only provision being a depend- able supply of electricity, a work- able telephone system, and a client CHOOSE FROM QUALITY BRANDS * BERNINA * ELNA « JANOME * PFAFF + JUKI * OMEGA * HUSQVARNA + WHITE * Enjoy serging speedy garments for summer ‘* Free lessons * Instore & manufacturer's warranty of two, But why go anywhere? Lithink the truth of the matter is that most of the ozone layer could vanish, the seas could rise, and short of actual glaciers we could weather more climate change than you want lo imagine. What would we do? Well, we'd stiy home and continue to do what we're already doing — plugging into the world's restless, heaving, incoming tidal wave of information, fucts, truths, lies, mass misinforma- tion, and bad craziness, which adds up, in its own cholic way, to an unavoidable expanded awareness about what's $ going on around the planet, and even in the general solar trea. What we have dane asa family, J realize, is; we've adapted. We are now the creatures whose coming MeLuhan and Ogden fore- saw. [not quite there, we are close to re-achieving what our distant pre-industrial ancestors had: a home where both work and family life took place. I don’t buy into the argument that the electronic cottage is some-: ) how going to make us all neurotic. Apart from atcertiin inevitable amount of insanity that comes with family life, our own is as close and loving a family as I've ever seen, af least on the good days. [do my penance for my male forebears with as much good grace as | can muster, and they try aot to flog me too much, What more can you ask? My only fear is that we are instinctively going underground. All of this communications staff could, indeed, be done in the base- CLEANSING FACIAL ment, with us only venturing out onto the surtacy for brief periods to reconnoiler for mutants. . Cottages only appeared after it was safe enough to move out of the forl,one must remember, _ Hike having all these lithe win- dows and pipelines into the global data pool, : [ just hope the sky doesn’ treally fall, so that we have no choice but to live like data-trolls, : If worst comes to worst, though, we'll be ready. OK, switch chan- nels! PEDICURE & MANICURE $3%&°°9 WITH THIS AD We specialize in excellent rejuvenating, Sacne fieials using only the finest and | hydrating, cole in purest ingredients. Other Services: Sculptural Nails, Waxing, Lash Tinting & Make-up Chez Elle ustartt Has Expanded and moved to: #207-1331 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. (Across the street from Binos, upstairs) 222: 1225 we Reon Paso JBL has just introduced the exciting new : “SoundEffects” series. These innovative speaker sustems combine incredible sound, :. attractive cosmetics, and the highest standards of JBL quality. ALL THIS IN A VERY SMALL: PACKAGE! c -Music systems -Home theatre systems -Wireless speaker systems!* :