J. G. Ballard

At the end of every email I send through gmail is a quote from J. G. Ballard. It reads: "I've always suspected that the Soviet Union was the last of the old style authoritarian tyrannies. The totalitarian systems of the future will be obsequious and subservient, plying us with drinks and soft slippers like a hostess on an airliner, adjusting our TV screen for us so that we won't ask exactly where the plane is going, or even whether there is a pilot on board."

A Google search of Ballard quotes turns up a catalog of tasty selections. I encourage you to see for yourself. I also encourage you to find his novels and short stories and read them; he's a fascinating guy.

Here's an essay by Dan Lockton, of Architectures of Control , published on the enlessly edifying Ballardian site.