Author looks at impact of technology on toys today

BOOK INFORMATION   Title: The
Playful World Author: Mark Pesce
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Price: $24.00 Rating: 6

By Michael Rosen-Molina
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Back in the old days, most children probably thought of a
Jetsons-inspired utopia when they looked toward the distant future.
However, today kids don’t have to guess what marvels the
future will bring; the marvels the present brings are certainly
wondrous enough.

Mark Pesce, the creator of the Virtual Reality Language and
founding chair of the Interactive Media Program at USC, takes a
disturbing look at things to come in his new book, “The
Playful World.”

Actually, it isn’t all that disturbing in the traditional
sense of doom-saying future-gazing. The book contains no references
to nuclear holocaust, environmental melt-down, or post-apocalyptic
wastelands run by evil megacorporations.

Instead, it looks at toys.

Drawing on examples from the Sony Playstation 2, which Pesce
claims is actually a highly sophisticated super computer disguised
as a children’s toy, to that infamous holiday merchandising
bonanza known as the Furby, Pesce writes how revolutionary new
technology is changing our daily lives.

“The Playful World” paints a picture of a society
dedicated, for better or worse, to fun. It isn’t a moralizing
sermon on the evils of frivolous “˜fun addiction’ or a
gung-ho celebration of the opportunities that new technology
presents. Not a hopeless optimist, Pesce’s views are tempered
by reality.

Some of his predictions sound sinister, but Pesce generally
keeps his tone light and cheerful. It’s difficult to take the
potential threats posed by science-run rampant seriously when
it’s delivered in such an up-beat manner.

Pesce constantly reiterates the need to educate children about
the proper uses of technology, since new technology has the
potential to impact their lives so greatly.

While many adults remain ignorant of the latest scientific
developments, preferring to cling to the traditional,
not-so-automated world in which they grew up, children eagerly eat
up new advances. The first generation to grow up with e-mail, the
Internet and virtual reality, today’s children are more
techno-savvy than ever.

Even the most dedicated technophile might feel the bite of
nostalgia at Pesce’s comparison between the toys of old and
their modern-day counterparts. Playing with dolls have always
inspired children to use their imaginations, inventing unique
personalities for imaginary friends. Many modern dolls eliminate
this bothersome task: a computerized doll comes with a microchip
embedded in its head and its own pre-packaged personality.

One of Pesce’s big concerns is whether or not
today’s parents will be able to cope with the brave new world
in which their children are so at home.

The constant flow of new technology creates a world where one
never quite knows what innovation tomorrow will bring. Pesce fears
that children will grow up without the stability that their parents
enjoyed.

Of course, while Pesce looks at cutting-edge wonders like
super-computers and virtual reality, no examination of techno-toys
would be complete without a chapter on those perennial childhood
favorites, video games.

Video games have become a huge industry, growing to rival
Hollywood blockbusters in production costs. Starting with primitive
games like “Pong” and “Space Invaders,”
video games have evolved over the last 25 years to include online
network gaming and virtual reality simulations.

Although Pesce is not blind to the negative impact that such
games might have on our culture, subtly blurring the line between
actual and virtual reality, he does a good job of communicating a
sense of child-like wonder.

Just a few short years ago, these games would have been
unthinkable, far too complex and too expensive to ever be of any
use. Now, they are so integrated into everyday life that few people
even pay them any mind. The Sony Playstation 2, for example, would
have been a million-dollar supercomputer a few short years ago;
today, it is merely a $300 game console.

Written with a compelling mix of hard science and human heart,
“The Playful World” is neither a cold, clinical
discourse nor a fanatical manifesto. Pesce keeps his feet on the
ground, presenting real arguments and compelling logic.

Even so, Pesce is not haughty, never once speaking down to his
audience. For example, by comparing the progress of information
technology to innovations in Lego design, he helps the layperson to
understand just how much life has changed in the last few decades.
Instead of the traditional multi-colored blocks that once
constituted the entire Lego universe, Lego now includes special
systems with pirates, castles, astronauts, and undersea explorers.
Likewise, technology has grown in ways that no one could have
foreseen.

These games are definitely a long way from anything the Jetsons
had.