“We will not submit to the mutation of modes of consumption; on the other hand we will play a part in their evolution.”

…should read more like:

“We will not be made to undergo the mutation of modes of consumption; on the contrary we will in fact play a part in their evolution.”

They will.
Because there is one thing which is called progress and it happens either you want it or not.

It isn’t as fast as some people would like and not enough fast as some other would.
But it always comes.

They will make portable screens that will look just like a newspaper or a book, where the written content will be there as long as the reader wants and needs it.
Everything is going to get virtual, because virtual means less space and less space is what we need in this overcrowded world.
Everything is going to be consumed and is going to disappear in a tiny memory somewhere where you can find it when you need it.
At least everything that can be virtual.

We better get used to the idea and like it if we want to survive…

Jeff, the translastion is correct. The sentence doesn’t mean anything in French.

ZF caricaturing people doesn’t help.

If you were a member of the French educational and professional elite you would instantly lose caste if you said something in terms which the man on the street could easily understand. Everything is uttered instead in a sort of ‘private language’ jargon, which helps to wall off the elite and their discussions from any possible interference (or competition) coming from outsiders.

The French may end up resorting to an “Anglo-Saxon network”.