COMMENT
Coupland's own website says Generation A "champions the act of reading and storytelling as one of the few defences we still have against the constant bombardment of the senses in a digital world".
Asked if he views technology's effects on society and culture as positive or negative, Coupland tells silicon.com: "It's neither. It's inevitable and unstoppable so the better question is how are we going to handle it - hide in a cave and bitch, or go out there and try to use it to make the world a better place? Sitting in a cave and bitching is neither noble nor romantic. It's ignorant and pointless."
And what of the latest round of web 2.0 upstarts, Facebook, Twitter et al? Can they have an effect on society and morals? "You're trying to impose morals on something not on a moral scale. That's like getting mad at the weather. You're going to stop these things? Good luck. It's not about you. So instead of bitching we need to analyse impact and try and figure out what happens next."
The question of what's coming next is particularly pertinent for web companies such as Twitter - after all, the faddish nature of internet popularity has seen sites attract massive user numbers and VC interest for a number of years before once loyal users eventually begun to drift away to find the next big thing.
"Twitter's actually kind of fun, but it's a hula hoop, and who knows what'll kill it," Coupland said.
There's no doubt the technology moves on quickly - today's social networking must-join often ends up tomorrow's GeoCities. So, having written on a subject so fast-moving, how does Coupland feel his books will age?
"When they came out, some naysayers said they'd date. Wrong. They became time capsules. And if you look at any book that's still in print after 20 years, you'll see that they're also time capsules. It seems to be a prerequisite for endurance - the need to be very specifically rooted in a place and time."
