The Rule
Describe Only Necessary Technology And Only As Much As Is Necessary
When telling a story, one must sometimes introduce technology that the reader is unfamiliar with, either because it doesn't exist (science-fiction) or because they aren't whalers (Moby Dick), submariners (The Hunt For Red October) or 19th century French municipal workers (Les Miserables).
Economy is for the best: Don't describe it unless you must, and don't describe it any more than you must.
Commentary
The irony of these examples is they're all counter-examples: In earlier eras, economy in storytelling was not a virtue (resulting in canards like "Dickens got paid by the word!"). In Ready Player One, for some reason, Cline opts to add yet another layer to his already overloaded VR by introducing the concept of chat-links vs. chat-rooms, instead of just saying "Business areas are no-kill zones," which would be the most obvious thing.