A topic that I have not noticed being discussed in any depth yet (I may have missed it ... ) is what will have become of the internet and other communication / media networks in the time period of cyberpunk world?
To my mind, I like the idea of the internet as we know it right now having collapsed during some all out "historic" cyber warefare event.
New networks have emerged, fragmented, no longer as dependent on major corporate controlled backbones. A global mesh / peer-to-peer network of some type, perhaps? With everyone able to become a node in the topology of the network.
I like the idea of the evolution of VR / AR etc. The ability to access and/or visualise the network(s) in different ways is interesting. For the elite cyberheads, directly plugging your brain in may be possible if we are going down the route of that level of augmentation tech
For others, advances in wearable computing, such as full VR / AR rigs worn externally but providing various levels of interaction including a totally immersive experience. Mirror Shades, anyone? :)
Couple the idea of AR / VR glasses with haptic feadback & full body position tracking cloathing, and ECG headwear that can directly monitor and react to brain activity (all techs that exist in some form today) - and extrapolate those ideas out to a future where the tech is fully evolved and mature. Could be useful.
There then could be sectors of society that essentially live their lives immersed in one of many virtual world overlayed over reality via such technology. For some this level of integration with the virtual may have addictive qualities similar to hard drug addiction, with all the associated social/criminal problems.
So, how do you think the networked future should work? lets Discuss below...