Jarrod – I actually thought your post was insightful, especially when you speak of the "regressiveness" of reading hypertext fiction. If we were fully centered rational individuals produced by the authoratative regime of print in the Enlightenment and Modern eras, we are now decentered skeptical subjects under postmodern computer mediated writings. If hypertext only leads us to the vague suggestion of an argument made by a web photo and an itune, the writing is relying solely on rhetorical strategies, the main feature of Ancient Roman communication represented by the teachings of Quintillian. Thus with computer mediated technologies, we are stepping back millenia. I also like the idea you posed with starring in your own fantasy film (I think this is what Total Recall was about), at least in that I would get that flat screen plasma TV ive been dreaming about. Actually, if a conglomeration of databases tried to write a movie with me as the star, it would basically be me sitting at my desk reading for like 12 hours straight. This movie would probably be rated "G," although i don’t know.
The thing about Baudrillard is that his writing is just simply poetic and amazing. However, his theories just don’t seem applicable to very many things that I can think of. Poster gives the example of TV ads, which by showing a busty blond with pom poms signifies a number of referents – beer, sex, football, etc. This, unfortunately, is not how TV ads work. At least anymore. Companies try to flood images of their products in our media/psychological sphere for exposure only – market penetration. Obviously, considering the recent demise of General Motors, probably the most ubiquitous advertised products on TV, the whole advertising thing just doesn’t work. Sales are most likely tied to "real" factors like the price of gas, cheaper better built foreign cars, etc…
While hejirascope lacked strict boundaries and order, Pax convinced me that it had a beginning and an end, and in some respects it had a plot. THe first half of the game was rising and the secong falling. This correlated to waking and sleeping, light and dark. Like hejirascope, the subliminal words constantly reappearing evoked death, terrorism, ecological danger, and epistemological uncertainty. While it is difficult to reach any broad conclusions about these texts, we can safely say that they are not wholly optimistic texts.