I’m being tailed by a Google AdSense agent. Everywhere I go, the agent is there, hiding behind a billboard or a kiosk poster, reminding me of questions I’ve recently asked. <\/p>\n
What if I get bored by this slow-moving game of cat and mouse? What if I want to be surprised? <\/p>\n
Maybe most of us won’t mind the loss of anonymity in this augmented future world, a Mall of America by way of Monaco where there’s an electronic eye on everyone.<\/p>\n
But surely many will rebel against the constant drag of interacting with dumb if obsequious agents; interlocutors who address us personally but can’t respond when confronted directly. A politeness bordering on inanity. <\/p>\n
If we’re going to spend most of our time online, with an electronic shadow, couldn’t we have a shadow that, from time to time, entertains us? A Cato to our Inspector Clouseau?<\/p>\n