Neuromancer, and the things that struck me rereading it after ten years

I just reread Neuromancer by William Gibson. I simply had to, with AI and all its aspects on the rise. Here are some reflections (without spoilers).

Although the book is a bit ‘talky’, it's amazing how Gibson could make such accurate predictions back in 1984. He coined the term "cyberspace." Just a thing like that.

Three things about his dystopic view where evil corporations are exploiting the world and its inhabitants, struck me, though.

First, the banks are the evil and leading corporations. Considering Gibson's tech nerd background, one might assume he would have foreseen the power of Big Tech. Regardless of what we see as “evil”. Although at least some tech companies have certainly been questioned heavily lately. Fake news, and all. However, there are no FAANG-related companies here: no Facebook, no Amazon, no Apple, no Netflix, and no Google (yes, I know they have different names now). As far as I know, no banks have entered the tech sector. But just a few months ago, Apple opened a bank. Apple is also the first company ever to have a market value of $3 trillion. That’s greater than UK’s GDP! And in comparison to banks, JP Morgan Chase & Co. - the bank with the largest market cap, - is valued at 375 billion (basically a shard of Apple’s worth).

So, I guess it is at least partly true what Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said back in 2011, that “software is eating the world”.

I didn't reflect on this the last time I read the book ten years ago. I'm not fond of the phrase "paradigm shift”, but maybe we've experienced one in recent years. Could it be that banks are no longer the most powerful companies? Tech companies are. Or are banks still more powerful, as they own many tech companies?

Second, they use phones. I mean regular phones, with number plates. And they connect to the matrix through the telephone network. There are even phone booths. But there's no fiber. No 5G, of course. I guess my reflection here is that it's difficult to think differently, to think what has not yet been thought. It’s obviously hard even for someone trying to do nothing less than think differently all the time.

One last comment is that if you want to know where the Wachowski brothers (Larry and Andy, now Wachowski sisters Lana and Lilly - this is another story worth reading up on!) got their idea for the Matrix trilogy, look no further.