ABANDONED. Poss YA, Scifi: World with computer apps to modify one's biology

[Elizabeth]

I read this book in the UK a few years ago, around 2008 or 2009. I think it was the first of several, and the second wasn’t out yet. It was probably in Young Adult science fiction. It depicted a world where programmers and biologists had figured out how to modify people, and you could download and install “hacks” on yourself - like not needing much sleep, being able to “whisper” to friends electronically without anyone hearing you, search/downloading information on demand etc. The programs were downloaded much like iphone apps, and people could write their own and sell them too. Everyone was online wirelessly pretty much all the time.

The main character is a teenager who wrote an app that became unexpectedly popular almost overnight and he got a measure of fame and money through doing so, and also got mixed up in some semishady stuff that I can’t quite remember now.

Other details that I remember:

- it’s common for kids to be brought up in huge “hives” and I think one of the main character’s friends was raised in this way.
- There was a natural wooded parklike area that happened to be a “dead spot” for many of the tracking apps and this featured strongly in the plot.
- All of the apps had clever and trademarked names that would probably be immediate google results if I could remember any of them.

Ringing any bells? Thanks!

[Cheryl]

Sounds like a neat story. I can't help but wonder about the plausibility though! Consider my comment a free bump, and if you need to, come back next month and bump again. If you figure it out elsewise, please let us know! :)

[Mel]

I feel like I may have read this, but I can't recall right now. Could it be something along the lines of a Cory Doctorow book? Or Feed by M.T. Anderson? I really feel like I read this from a recommendation I got on Boing Boing. Check out this list of biopunk books: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/b...

[Andy]

The woodlike park that was a deadzone, and some of the other aspects sound a bit like Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End (or actually, like the shorter piece that was expanded into the novel - the shorter piece is available legally here http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/ne... )

[Aldert]

The principles of apps to modify one self also play an important part in "signal to noise" by eric s Nylund. For his protagonist I dont remember any parents so maybe he grew up in a hive. That i dont remember.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Signal to Noise for Aldert's suggestion

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Elizabeth, are you still looking for this or was it something mentioned above?

[Cheryl]

abandoned