M&D, the Internet&W.A.S.T.E.

[Catherine P.]

A proposition:  Let's move on from the sexist accusation and get back to
the text, especially regarding W.A.S.T.E.   I'm curious why Andrew Dinn
writes: 

>...The previous novels follow a clear pattern in
>their embracing the various technology of communication (communication
>and the way media frame and shape the message being a perennial theme
>in Pynchon's work). V and the early fiction is full of references to
>mythology and (iconic) images.  Gravity's Rainbow is chock-a-block
>with film. Vineland is saturated with TV. (I'll follow Pynchon in
>discounting TCOL49). So, the obvious conclusion to draw wrt Mason &
>Dixon is that it should centre on the Internet as the next logical
>progression (and/or regression) in the chain of communication media.
>
The posthorn could perhaps fit into your mention of 'mythology and
(iconic) images' in V., with it's own brand of wingless Hermes symbolism.
A-and though not 'mass media,' W.A.S.T.E. was a system of lo-tech
communication as well, an underground network of interpersonal
communication.  If M&D is indeed about the web/Internet, than
COL49/W.A.S.T.E. seems like a direct precursor to it.  With encryption
and list-cliques, e-mail can be anonymous and secretive (or as
susceptible to eavesdropping as mailbags under interstate highways, if a
hacker or bridge dweller).  On the other end of the spectrum, the
Internet could be the backdrop for a marriage of all of TP's mass media
themes--worldwide websites instead of WWII film noir or gonzo TV, with
computer pixels replacing 24 fps and downloading instead of satellite
feeds....  E-mail posts usurping graffiti posthorns....  Any thoughts? 

--Catherine