The more I think about this, the more interesting it is. The world didn't need a Crash to make wireless connectivity ubiquitous. It's there already in
most of America, at least. And on the same note, the FCC is trying to make a
universal free wi-fi network, and the existing ones will only get more robust. To bruteforce crack any 8-character password, all you need these days is a
couple thousand dollars in hardware (mostly graphics cards whose GPUs support the right kinds of calculations) and
free software, and that's not even using a dictionary attack to make your list of guesses a few hundred times shorter. Botnets made up of computers the average Joe is likely to own can do much more than that. Cell phones these days are a dash of downsizing and a sprinkle of protocol away from a commlink, and touch tablets are a few years away from being honorary Cyberdecks. 3D TV isn't even exciting new technology anymore (just something most of us can't afford). We can
transmit actual electricity with magnetic induction over a distance, without cords. And we can hypothetically use that power to run our cars, trains, and unmanned drones. Which have been made as
large as airplanes and
smaller than birds, and used to
spy on the people of the world, and used to rain
Hellfire (missiles, that is) down on the Bad Guys™. Private corps are getting into a
whole new space race.
Firearms (with the exception of railguns...
oh wait) and
body armor have advanced to near Shadowrun levels. And cyberware is looking to be
just around the corner as well. It's getting to the point where the advancement of technology would actually have to slow down in order to reach Shadowrun levels by 2050, let alone 2070.
As far as the politics and corporate life goes, well, I started refluffing Ares's full name to be "Ares Armor"
when I figured out that that was a real company. And as long as the ability to oppress people is there, people will try to do it. The only thing keeping us from dystopia is ourselves.