Top streaming platform, Netflix recently released a documentary that tackles the possibility of immortality through technology, as a brief introduction to its latest science fiction series ‘Altered Carbon’. The short video featured several prominent thought leaders in entertainment, technology, science and literature, including Ernest Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe Telecom.
Ernest Cu is an immensely forward-thinking leader and tech innovator, who believes in empowering the Filipinos by elevating their digital lifestyle within the global standards. That vision has shaped the trajectory of Globe as a purveyor of all things digital. Hence, Netflix decided to profile Cu, along with Altered Carbon author Richard K. Morgan, Steve Aoki, Jesse Wellens, and other thought leaders to discuss how technology is changing the landscape of human society and how technology deeply affects the lives of individuals. They were also asked to imagine the various possibilities of living forever.
‘Altered Carbon’ is the new Netflix original series based on the classic cyberpunk novel written by Richard K. Morgan. Its story is set 300 years into the future, in which technology allows human consciousness to be digitized and stored in discs called “stackers” or uploaded to the cloud. When a person dies, this stacker is recovered from the body (called a “sleeve”), or downloaded from the Cloud and reinserted into another “sleeve”, thus ensuring that the person lives again. Since the process is very expensive, only the rich can afford to live lengthy and seemingly immortal lives. This status quo has led to a careless disregard for human lives among the wealthy.
Takeshi Kovacs, the protagonist in the series, is the lone survivor of a group of elite interstellar soldiers that was defeated in an uprising against the new world order. After 250 years in ice, Kovacs is revived by Laurens Bancroft, an impossibly wealthy, long-lived man, to solve Bancroft’s suspicious death.
From writer and executive producer Laeta Kalogridis, Altered Carbon stars Joel Kinnaman, James Purefoy, Martha Higareda, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Will Yun Lee, and Dichen Lachman. Altered Carbon is on Netflix starting February 2.
Globe customers can enjoy six months access to Netflix with Globe At Home Plan 1299 and up, while Postpaid customers can get six months worth of Netflix with Plan 999 and up. To learn more, just visit www.globe.com.ph/content/netflix.