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Off the Grid

stephenfry.com

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Re: Off the Grid

#31

Post by coldtea »

stuartmalcolm wrote: post #26

Am I the only one struck by the irony of an advert for his book in the middle of this post?

The irony being? It wasn't exactly a "stick it to the man / down with money" post, even if he has a small paragraph talking about young people rebelling in it.

Re: Off the Grid

#32

Post by coldtea »

ascorbic wrote: post #28

It's not surprising he'd want to turn his back on social media after the (justifiable) kicking he took over this: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/apr/14/stephen-fry-s...

Justifiable? Based on what he actually said? -- there's an accurate transcription down in the link.

Re: Off the Grid

#33

Post by Intermernet »

yarou wrote: post #8

When I was a youngin' browsing BBSes in the 90s, I remember distinctly encountering a text guide to "the art of disappearing", essentially getting off the grid as Stephen Fry mentions. It involved a whole bunch of seemingly paranoid steps, like burning your passport, and booking your flight (one-way) with cash. I also remember thinking to myself how silly the whole concept was - why would I ever want to do something…

"Becoming Jack Flack" Shmoocon 2010 talk: https://youtu.be/dr5esiUIaS0

Re: Off the Grid

#34

Post by noufalibrahim »

RivieraKid wrote: post #10

He's such an amazingly good writer.

I like his "Ode less travelled" a lot but his other works of fiction not so much. And his blog posts (including this one) seem to be a few straightforward points blown up into an essay. I realise that he enjoys language for it's own sake. I do too in a much lesser way but his style simply doesn't resonate with me.

Re: Off the Grid

#35

Post by r0muald »

coldtea wrote: post #31
stuartmalcolm wrote: post #26

Am I the only one struck by the irony of an advert for his book in the middle of this post?

The irony being? It wasn't exactly a "stick it to the man / down with money" post, even if he has a small paragraph talking about young people rebelling in it.

The specific irony being, a few paragraphs above:

> Who most wants you to stay on the grid? The advertisers.

Re: Off the Grid

#36

Post by coldpie »

jasonkostempski wrote: post #14

I've been trying to do this and as of this week, HN and stackexchage are the last social accounts I have but only because I can't find a way to delete them. I could just log out and walk away but it feels like there's no closure that way. Anyone know of a way to close an HN account?

Does HN count as "social"? It feels more like an Internet forum to me. I guess you're using your real name here, but you don't have to. I don't know anyone socially who I would expect to find on here.

Re: Off the Grid

#37

Post by return0 »

Why do people feel like FB and messengers are the entire "Grid"? You can go off social networks and still enjoy the marvel that is the internet (it works for me). My guess is that people develop a genuine addiction to FB and need to avoid all temptation for a while. Going offline for a longer than that is not a good idea though.

Re: Off the Grid

#38

Post by uhtred »

It's interesting that I was at an itunes free gig in London back in 2010 at the Camden Roundhouse (band was Bombay Bicycle Club and they were very good), and Stephen Fry made a pre gig speech (obviously paid by Apple) to say how marvellous the iphone was and how although some people criticise social media , it is a marvellous thing that helps people feel less lonely, amongst other things (and the iphone helps people stay connected to this social media when on the go). I wonder if he truly believed that then, or was just saying so for Apple's sake. Either way, let's assume he believed it; and so I guess in 2010 it was all still rather new. Now he, like many of us, have grown very tired and cynical of it all. I agree with a lot he is saying in this post. The internet has been hijacked by big money and corporations. I personally am utterly fed up with waiting for web pages to load, unable to read the content because it keeps shifting around the page while another shitty targeted ad gets inserted. And then I realise the content was trash anyway; just more shallow, "read this in 2 minutes" bullshit that gets churned out because the authors know we have lost our ability to stay focused on one thing long enough to read anything substantial and genuinely informative.

Re: Off the Grid

#39

Post by toyg »

ascorbic wrote: post #28

It's not surprising he'd want to turn his back on social media after the (justifiable) kicking he took over this: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/apr/14/stephen-fry-s...

Fry was already a serial social-media "quitter", going on and off Twitter a few times; he even (famously) entirely quit real society, back in the day, after a bunch of bad reviews; and he has self-confessed mental health issues. All considered, it's not that surprising that he might want to disconnect altogether, regardless of specific episodes.

Re: Off the Grid

#40

Post by return0 »

coldpie wrote: post #36
jasonkostempski wrote: post #14

I've been trying to do this and as of this week, HN and stackexchage are the last social accounts I have but only because I can't find a way to delete them. I could just log out and walk away but it feels like there's no closure that way. Anyone know of a way to close an HN account?

Does HN count as "social"? It feels more like an Internet forum to me. I guess you're using your real name here, but you don't have to. I don't know anyone socially who I would expect to find on here.

Agreed. I have switched usernames here over the years, and i don't miss any of it. It's hard to imagine someone having "closure" against HN.
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