Wei Dai wrote:
> That almost makes sense, but what is the deal with not being able to
> disconnect from the Matrix except near certain telephones? You'd think the
> sane AI would provide our heros with some VR gear that doesn't kill its
> user every time a packet is dropped.
Yes, but keep in mind the Matrix was designed by the AI's so there wouldn't be any escape. The plug-ins Morpheus is using seem to be stolen parts from the liquid "human-container" vats. They were designed to *always* stay plugged in. Although, Morpheus and his team have had some success over the years hacking the Matrix software and hardware, so far he has only come up with a difficult hack around very complex and rigid protocols, that in cyberspace appear as telephone booths. This would make sense, since a virtual telephone booth would have to allow communication between most of the humans throughout the entire set of real-world physical human habitat megastructures. Therefore, tapping into the telephone system also taps into the underlying communication infrastructure of the Matrix. Personally, I think these Wachowski brothers are frigging geniuses!
Paul Hughes
http://www.i2.to/