ABSTRACT
In The Diamond Age, novelist Neal Stephenson envisions the early twenty-fi rst century as a time when mass media is radically transformed (Stephenson 1995). Rather than watching passives – traditional linear media such as TV and movies – the public engages in ractives, a form of interactive entertainment that effortlessly senses and stimulates human emotion. This creates something akin to a virtual theater-in-theround, where everyone can be the star of their own personal drama.
