"Feed" by M.T. Anderson

Titus and his friends Marty, Link, Calista, Loga, Quendy, and Violet are adolescents living in the future United States, where they go on vacations to the moon and other planets, drive flying cars like the Dodge Gryphon, and stay up to date with the latest fashions and trends via a device called the “feed,” which is a computer chip implanted in their brains that keeps them continuously connected to the internet. The feed allows one to mentally watch television, access games, share music, talk to friends by means of “broadcasting,” and “be supersmart without ever working.” In fact, Titus finds it hard to find the right words to talk without using the feed.

Anderson addresses the evils of corporate America through this controversial computer chip implanted in the heads of children at an early age. He writes that the feed “knows everything you want and hope for” and sends consumer needs to corporations where it is profiled. The company then advertises it products back to the individual, similarly to pop-up ads on the internet. An overwhelming percentage of the future American population has the feed, which is often protested by those who argue that large corporations are taking over the nation with their excessive amounts of power. Titus’s liberal-minded girlfriend Violet states her frustrations against the feed:

Everything we do gets thrown into a big calculation. Like they’re watching us right now. They can tell where you’re looking. They want to know what you want. [. . .] They’re also waiting to make you want things. Everything we’ve grown up with—the stories on the feed, the games, all of that—it’s all streamlining our personalities so we’re easier to sell to. I mean, they do these demographic studies that divide everyone up into a few personality types, and then you get ads based on what you’re supposedly like. They try to figure out who you are, and to make you conform to one of their types for easy marketing.

Although a useful and entertaining device, the feed’s foremost setback is its connection to a person’s memory, emotions, and body function. Therefore, if one were to be disconnected from the feed or have it malfunction, there could be serious mental and physical consequences for the individual. When Violet’s feed begins to malfunction and refuses to stabilize, she worries she may die.

Although M.T. Anderson’s novel has many interesting concepts, it would be easier to follow the story if the narrator Titus were to explain more of the oddities in his futuristic world and to give more explanations in the beginning chapters instead of leaving the reader confused about events for quite some time.

The author also states that he studied adolescents to write the novel, however his characters seem somewhat awkward, perhaps because they use futuristic terms that are not thoroughly explained to the reader. There is also a significant amount of vulgar language, and although teens tend to swear a lot, some of it seems unnecessary and makes the story seem crude.