In an essay, ‘Learning the Electronic Life’, written just before the ‘wide-spread talk of cyberspace’ that accompanied the so-called ‘Internet Revolution’ of the 1990s, James Schwoch and Mimi White (1992) set about to describe a typical day’s activity for their American family – from waking up, to putting in hours as teachers in the education sector, to trying to relax in the evening.

At first light they relate how they are woken by the baby monitor which links their room to their son’s. Next thing they are heating up the rice cereal in a microwave. While their boy is in the playpen, James and Mimi commence some exercise in front of the TV with remote control handy.