First of all, I think Janet Murray must be a geek. Anyone who spends as much time as she does watching Star Trek episodes and playing video games must be a bit of a geek. Second, I would agree with the critics of Murray that she overstates the potentialities of narrative in new media and understates darker possibilities (question #5). I recognize that the new technology holds much promise, and has already changed the way some stories (histories) are told. However, Murray seems blind to the possibly de-sensitizing potential of the technology. She rejects the dystopia of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" with the "feelies" of the future portraying mere sensations, but she misses the larger point that high technology media could mask reality and become a substitute for actual experiences. This is also one of the points of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." For example, her discussion of "immersive trances" is interesting, but does not address how one in such a trance may be "drugged" by the media and disoriented when emerging from the trance. Will the view always be able to distinguish reality from fantasy after immersion in virtual reality? Will the viewer find narcoleptic comfort in fantasy rather than facing the challenges of the real world, such as caring for a child? She uses an example of a Star Trek episode in which the heroine engages in a virtual reality fantasy but who is ready to return to duty when called. However, there is also the possibility of not returning to duty, of remaining within the fantasy realm (which seems to be one of the points of the episode she describes). Of course, these questions can also be asked of other media (a la Don Quixote and books, and Madame Bovary and novels), but the power of computer technology and its ability to create believable fantasy worlds in the future may make it more dangerous.
Murray also avoids the issue of the use of technology to shape the information we receive, perhaps perniciously. On page 260, she states, "A mobile viewer cyberdrama could be presented in such a way that viewers' choice of point of view would influence the kind of information they receive. Choosing to see the story in a particular way would therefore be a self-revealing act that might leave the viewer questioning his or her values." Perhaps another possibility would be the media corporation or even government displaying only the information that would conform to the viewers' tastes. In this way, the viewers' values (point of view) would not be questioned but affirmed -- even if they are one-sided, intolerant, factually incorrect, etc.