We're shrinking our world to 'egocasting'

"We have moved beyond (broadcasting and) narrowcasting into 'egocasting' -- a world where we exercise an unparalleled degree of control over what we watch and what we hear," writes Christine Rosen in The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society. Using TiVo, iPod and universal remote controls as examples, Rosen argues at some length that our passion for technologies that personalize our media experiences may lead to a perilous future where we refuse to engage with the world around us. Instead, insulated by our headphones and our La-Z-Boy recliners, we are willfully withdrawing from public spaces to wallow in a shallow, self-centered existence where we "consciously avoid ideas, sounds and images that we don't agree with or don't enjoy." And we've begun to prefer convenience to experience, half measures to full immersion. We can view paintings online instead of strolling through a museum. We can look at online porn or have cybersex without the mess or complications of actual lovemaking. Read on.