It's a shockwave life

Yesterday, while deleting several emails (apparently from myself) that contained a worm timed to attack SCO this Sunday, I realized how close we are to living in The Shockwave Rider. Not literally, of course, but it's becoming a Brunner-esque world.

Exhibit A would be the new cyberalert system that has US government officials throwing around the word "cyber" without reference or explanation. The president's even used it in his National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace (PDF, 76 pages):

My Fellow Americans:

The way business is transacted, government operates, and national defense is conducted have changed. These activities now rely on an interdependent network of information technology infrastructures called cyberspace.

There's an off-kilter matter-of-factness to that statement. In less than 20 years, cyberspace has gone from fictional construct to national policy. Brunner's pal Toffler was right about the future coming sooner than we think.