The Poetics of Cyberspace: Two Ways to Get a Life

J. Hillis Miller sets up a thought experiment: two teenagers, one in 1954 (Horace) and one in 2003 (Jimjim). Horace lives in a world of paper and literature. His self-identity is tied into books. Jimjim is a computer geek. He's always doing five things at once on his PC. Conclusions:

It is better to be Jimjim.

Jimjim is more social, active, "interactive."

Both are written by their environments.

etc., etc.

J. Hillis Miller, "The Poetics of Cyberspace: Two Ways to Get a Life," Contemporary Poetics Ed. Louis Arnaud (Northwestern UP, 2007)