Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet
Author |
Message |
Dee
|
Post subject: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:59 am |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:39 pm Posts: 533 Location: Mankato Area
|
We have a few SF readers here. I thought this might be amusing for some of you. http://techdirt.com/articles/20090623/1946275341.shtmlQuote: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet from the well,-he's-way-over-30 dept Karl points us to an interview with Ray Bradbury where he rails against the internet:
"The Internet is a big distraction," Mr. Bradbury barked from his perch in his house in Los Angeles, which is jammed with enormous stuffed animals, videos, DVDs, wooden toys, photographs and books, with things like the National Medal of Arts sort of tossed on a table.
"Yahoo called me eight weeks ago," he said, voice rising. "They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? 'To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.'
"It's distracting," he continued. "It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere." Tell us what you really think, Ray. Though, actually, this isn't a surprise. Way back in 2001, we wrote about another interview with him, where he called the internet a "scam" perpetrated by computer companies. If all this seems strange for the guy who wrote Farenheit 451 about the evils of book burning and the wonders of being able to access all kinds of information... it turns out that's because we all (including his biographer) misunderstood Farenheit 451. In an interview a couple years ago, Bradbury explained that the book wasn't about censorship at all. It was really about the evils of technology such as television: Bradbury, a man living in the creative and industrial center of reality TV and one-hour dramas, says it is, in fact, a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature.
"Television gives you the dates of Napoleon, but not who he was," Bradbury says, summarizing TV's content with a single word that he spits out as an epithet: "factoids." He says this while sitting in a room dominated by a gigantic flat-panel television broadcasting the Fox News Channel, muted, factoids crawling across the bottom of the screen. So it turns out he just loves books. That's it. Not the ability to get more content or be able to read more. Books. Physical books. None of this "air" stuff and those annoying "factoids." Perhaps, as he gets close to being 90 years old, he's simply proving the point that fellow science fiction author Douglas Adams once wrote: 1) everything that's already in the world when you're born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you're thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it's been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really. I would imagine that point 3 gets worse over time... even if you're an acclaimed science fiction writer.
|
|
|
|
|
DeanC
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:10 am |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:54 am Posts: 5270 Location: Minneapolis
|
I love Bradbury.
That last part is the best.
_________________ I am defending myself... in favor of that!
|
|
|
|
|
mrokern
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:00 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:40 pm Posts: 2264 Location: Eden Prairie
|
Douglas Adams was the MAN. He left us far too soon.
-Mark
|
|
|
|
|
kecker
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:46 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:57 am Posts: 818 Location: Apple Valley, MN
|
mrokern wrote: Douglas Adams was the MAN. He left us far too soon.
-Mark Amen
_________________ http://www.eckernet.com My mind is like a steel trap - rusty and illegal in 37 states.
|
|
|
|
|
Selurcspi
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:03 am |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:02 pm Posts: 1569 Location: The Mild, Mild, West, Burbs
|
mrokern wrote: Douglas Adams was the MAN. He left us far too soon.
-Mark Goodbye and thanks for all the fish
_________________ NRA Certified Instructor MADFI Certified Instructor MN DNR Certified Instructor UT BCI Certified Conceal/Carry Instructor
"If you expect the police to always be able to protect you, why are the ones who show up at crimes called 'detectives' instead of 'defenders'? Detectives try to find a criminal after they've committed a crime."
|
|
|
|
|
kecker
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:31 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:57 am Posts: 818 Location: Apple Valley, MN
|
He was clearly a man to be reckoned with. After all, he always knew where his towel was.
_________________ http://www.eckernet.com My mind is like a steel trap - rusty and illegal in 37 states.
|
|
|
|
|
Dee
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:24 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:39 pm Posts: 533 Location: Mankato Area
|
|
|
|
|
Fubar
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:15 pm |
|
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 2:12 pm Posts: 289
|
I too miss Mr. Adam's writings (although I suspect he'd have attempted to give up writing by now) and I can't help but wonder how much he would enjoy the technology of today, especially compared to Mr. Grumpy Pants.
|
|
|
|
|
mrokern
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:21 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:40 pm Posts: 2264 Location: Eden Prairie
|
Fubar wrote: I too miss Mr. Adam's writings (although I suspect he'd have attempted to give up writing by now) and I can't help but wonder how much he would enjoy the technology of today, especially compared to Mr. Grumpy Pants. He was a long time Apple guy. Yeah, I know I'm just tempting Macphisto... -Mark
|
|
|
|
|
Andrew Rothman
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:53 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:24 am Posts: 6767 Location: Twin Cities
|
|
|
|
|
mrokern
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:47 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:40 pm Posts: 2264 Location: Eden Prairie
|
Andrew Rothman wrote: Dude, the iPhone is the Guide. Hmmm, I've got a great idea for an app...
|
|
|
|
|
kecker
|
Post subject: Re: Ray Bradbury Still Hates The Internet Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:31 pm |
|
Longtime Regular |
|
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:57 am Posts: 818 Location: Apple Valley, MN
|
mrokern wrote: Andrew Rothman wrote: Dude, the iPhone is the Guide. Hmmm, I've got a great idea for an app... DON'T PANIC
_________________ http://www.eckernet.com My mind is like a steel trap - rusty and illegal in 37 states.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 1
|
[ 12 posts ] |
|
This is a static archive the Twin Cities Carry forum, maintained as a public service by the current forum of record, The Minnesota Carry Forum.
All times are UTC - 6 hours
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum
|