Brave BBC reporter survives entire day without using the internet
53 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20322747[/url]
[quote=Rory Cellan-Jones][B]It seemed like a good idea at the time. As part of BBC London's Lonely London series, I was persuaded to spend 24 hours without using the internet or social media. The thought was to explore whether new technology does anything to make us feel more or less isolated.[/B]
Here's how it went...
[B]20:00 GMT[/B]
I post messages on Twitter and Facebook explaining that I am going offline, turn on "out of office" on my two email accounts and turn off any data connection on my phone. Then I explain to my 14-year-old son, busy online as ever, what I'm doing. "That would be agony for me!" he says.
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64283000/jpg/_64283544_rorytweet.jpg[/img]
[B]23:30 GMT[/B]
Later, I realise what a bad time it is for this exercise. It's American election night - the ideal news event to monitor via social media as well as watching on television. Tuning into the coverage, I find it much less compelling without the running commentary I normally get from my Twitter stream, and I go to bed long before the result is clear.
[B]06:00 GMT[/B]
The alarm goes off, I reach for my phone - then realise I'm not allowed to look at the web. Turn on the radio to hear the result of the election - and go downstairs to watch Obama's acceptance speech. This time, watching without the distraction of Twitter is a better TV experience.
[B]08:00 GMT[/B]
Usually I sit at breakfast with a device or two scouring emails and Twitter and various news sites. This morning I read the papers, then find I have time for the piano practice I usually forget.
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64239000/jpg/_64239458_rory2.jpg[/img]
[B]09:30 GMT[/B]
I have a doctor's appointment - normally I would sit in the waiting room fiddling with my phone. Instead I read a copy of the Economist retrieved from amongst the Grazias and Vogues. It's weeks old, but full of interesting material about technology issues and I emerge from the surgery feeling better-informed.
[B]10:15 GMT[/B]
On the tube into London everyone appears to be transfixed by their tablet computers and smartphones. Normally I'm exactly the same - and with wi-fi available at stations I can be checking Twitter at every stop. Instead, I'm reading the paper - which feels many hours out of date. I wish I'd brought a book.
[B]11:00 GMT[/B]
In the office, I quickly become aware that not only do I miss the web and social media, but it is impossible to do my job without them. Twitter has become my news agency for technology stories, my main means of communication with people in that field, and an important platform for promoting my content. And when someone rings me with a story, my first instinct is to go to Google to brief myself about the context - then I realise I can't. "I'll email you some background," the contact says. I have to explain why that won't work.
[B]12:00 GMT[/B]
What I do manage is a couple of face to face meetings with colleagues, rather than emailing them. And, with little idea of how to carry on my job when offline, I find myself sitting around gossiping - and no doubt annoying busy people who are trying to get on with their work.
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64239000/jpg/_64239677_rory4.jpg[/img]
[B]14:00 GMT[/B]
The psychologist Dr Michael Sinclair comes in to be interviewed by me for our BBC London report. He nods sympathetically as I describe my feelings of being disconnected. We talk about how easy it is to become addicted to social media - and he warns that this can lead to problems in engaging in the real world with family and friends.
[B]15:00 GMT[/B]
We go out onto Oxford Street to ask Londoners how they would cope if they had to give up the internet. Just about everyone agrees that it would be impossible now for them to run their lives without it.
[B]16:00 GMT[/B]
Later, with a story emerging for the next day, I am reduced to asking colleagues to print out emails and some information from the web. Cheating, I suppose, but the only realistic way of doing my job.
[B]20:00 GMT[/B]
At home, and relieved that my self-imposed exile from the online world is coming to an end, I turn on the data connection on my phone and fire up the computer. With a sinking heart I see that 448 unread emails await my attention. Still, there's plenty to catch up with on Twitter before dealing with that - I'm back online and not a moment too soon. I've concluded that I just cannot function without being hooked up to the online world.
[B]Conclusion[/B]
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64239000/jpg/_64239683_rory5.jpg[/img]
That is how it felt at the time. After a few days back online and sometime for reflection, I have come to a rather different conclusion. I now realise that constant connectivity, while vital for my job, has plenty of negative aspects. It shortens your attention span and could prevent you from having any sense of perspective about what is important and what isn't. So maybe a web detox is something we should all try from time to time.[/quote]
Rory Cellan-Jones for Pulitzer, he is my hero for going through this
uhm he's lame as heck for a single day
verge writer is doing a year
A single day is nothing special. Sometimes I have to go half a year without internet.
I saw this on the news earlier, was actually pretty interesting. Its an insight into how connected people are these days, I mean how many people on here get the majority of their news and information from the internet? When did anyone on here last look up something in a book (a real book mind you...) instead of just running to Google?
can't even imagine what kind of hellish experience that must have been
He should marry the woman who's allergic to technology
I've gone without the internet for like 3 days, but that was camping and I was occupied on doing other things.
I don't think I'd last a month or a year tbh
Old people these days.
I remember when I was a kid and we didn't even have Skype.
[QUOTE=PaChIrA;38555971]A single day is nothing special. Sometimes I have to go half a year without internet.[/QUOTE]
Half a year? Goddamn dude I'd go friggin' insane if I had to wait for that long.
Pfft thats nothing I no longer use facebook, talk to people on steam or go outside + all I get is emails about viagra and nigerian princes..
I love the way it's made with hourly updates on how he's surviving, honestly this is something I'd expect from The Onion.
Am I the only one bothered by the fact that a reporter for a respectable news agency gets his news from twitter?
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;38556274]Pfft thats nothing I no longer use facebook, talk to people on steam or go outside + all I get is emails about viagra and nigerian princes..[/QUOTE]
You no longer go outside [I]or[/I] use the internet? What the hell man
I've gone for at least a week at most without an internet connection. Happened last month on two occasions, first week of the month and then on the third week.
[QUOTE=MIPS;38556236]Old people these days.
I remember when I was a kid [B]and we didn't even have Skype.[/B][/QUOTE]
Uh, neither did I or pretty much anyone in this thread seeing as it came out in '03
Why would you brag that.
[url]http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/8/3007525/paul-miller-offline[/url]
It is funny that 6 months into not having the internet, Paul Miller lost weight and got tan, while writing his best articles ever for The Verge, a technology website.
Makes you think.
Erm, is this a joke?
[QUOTE=person11;38556419][url]http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/8/3007525/paul-miller-offline[/url]
It is funny that 6 months into not having the internet, Paul Miller lost weight and got tan, while writing his best articles ever for The Verge, a technology website.
Makes you think.[/QUOTE]
And all I'm doing is messing around, not doing anything productive, procrastinating and watching funny cat videos. Nothing more, nothing less...
:suicide:
I think my problem with technology is keeping up with it, whilst everyone has been busy looking at their smartphones and hardly-at-work browsing the internet whilst kindly waiting for the next chump to fill the printer with paper I've been working hard and missed out on smart phones and I use the internet constantly at home so when I go to work I find it to be a nice break from endless hours gaming, reading this forum and not going outside much.
I'd still say I'm hopelessly dependant on internet but I'd love to understand why people never get sick of browsing the internet for what seems like eternity.
Oh please. I can go days without the internet. Those are usually the days when I'm out of the house though so I guess I can see how it's difficult when his job relies on being connected.
A day without just internet?
Shit, get a singleplayer game, can play some of those for weeks and never even realize that the internet exists.
Or just you know, be a real person and go outside.
someone hasn't ever gone camping?
[QUOTE=don868;38556869]A day without just internet?
Shit, get a singleplayer game, can play some of those for weeks and never even realize that the internet exists.
Or just you know, be a real person and go outside.[/QUOTE]
when i first installed deus ex (a retail GOTY copy) everyone on my steam friends thought i had died.
I dont even use twitter and my email is full of junk and i have about 1k unread messages
this guy's probably got bigger balls than Felix Baumgartner
[QUOTE=Fort83;38557068]A day is really nothing. I'm away from the internet for days on a regular basis. I've even gone months without it.[/QUOTE]
For some reason whenever my internet is down I feel like I'm unable to play my steam games even though they're 100% accessable
[QUOTE=mobrockers2;38556304]Am I the only one bothered by the fact that a reporter for a respectable news agency gets his news from twitter?[/QUOTE]
He is a technology reporter, there is really no better place to be honest. I assume he fact checks and follows up on stuff and doesn't just believe everything he sees.
Thing is, being a technology reporter he's going to be a lot more dependant on online content than the layman, so there's some bias in his reaction to it.
I do this quite a bit
My Internet connection is unstable at best, some days it's just out.
So you do other things
[QUOTE=mobrockers2;38556304]Am I the only one bothered by the fact that a reporter for a respectable news agency gets his news from twitter?[/QUOTE]
Well it does seem to be the quickest was to discover something happening. If anything happens anywhere, you can expect tweets on it. You still should check the facts of course.
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