Comments on: My Information Diet http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/ The Internet Entrepreneur Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:15:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: erwin blom http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10072 erwin blom Wed, 28 May 2008 05:59:18 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10072 @Alef Ho Ho Ho ! ;-) @Alef Ho Ho Ho ! ;-)

]]> By: Alef Arendsen http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10071 Alef Arendsen Wed, 28 May 2008 01:23:49 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10071 Now Boris, don't worry, you won't be disconnected from the world or anything. I've not a television set for almost three years, haven't been reading any serious dailies for two and a half years and I'm still commenting your blog (albeit only a few weeks after the initial posting of your entry). My online information diet consists of a few blogs I scan every month, another few I scan every week and just three or four I scan daily. Other than that, on paper I read The New Yorker, Monocle, Economist and (yes, sorry to admit) Esquire and I'm happy with it... The more important will reach you anyway. And by the way, who's cares Erwin Blom thinks you're stupid :-) cheers, Alef Now Boris, don’t worry, you won’t be disconnected from the world or anything. I’ve not a television set for almost three years, haven’t been reading any serious dailies for two and a half years and I’m still commenting your blog (albeit only a few weeks after the initial posting of your entry).

My online information diet consists of a few blogs I scan every month, another few I scan every week and just three or four I scan daily. Other than that, on paper I read The New Yorker, Monocle, Economist and (yes, sorry to admit) Esquire and I’m happy with it… The more important will reach you anyway.

And by the way, who’s cares Erwin Blom thinks you’re stupid :-)

cheers,
Alef

]]> By: Yonga Sun http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10006 Yonga Sun Sun, 18 May 2008 00:32:22 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10006 Good post! I stopped watching TV a couple of years ago and am not missing it a bit. I watch a couple of TV series and movies either on DVD or via torrents (oops.. probably shouldn't say that here..) with the big advantage being NO F..... COMMERCIALS. They have TVs in the cardio equipment at my gym so that's a bit of fun every once in a while. I tried a newspaper subscription a couple of years ago, but that just didn't work for me. Still, not being informed about the most important world events is not a good thing in my opinion. To each his own, of course, but I think it's rather important to keep track of the goings on on our planet. News may never be positive, as Michiel said, but some things happen that we, as a human race, should not ignore. In Europe, for example, the integration (or not) of Islam is an ongoing issue that will have quite an influence on the quality of our living situation in the future. Just to name one example. By the way, Boris, I love that you wrote "Design and Content © 1971-2008" at the bottom of the blog. You were creative quite early on! ;-) Good post!
I stopped watching TV a couple of years ago and am not missing it a bit. I watch a couple of TV series and movies either on DVD or via torrents (oops.. probably shouldn’t say that here..) with the big advantage being NO F….. COMMERCIALS.
They have TVs in the cardio equipment at my gym so that’s a bit of fun every once in a while.

I tried a newspaper subscription a couple of years ago, but that just didn’t work for me. Still, not being informed about the most important world events is not a good thing in my opinion. To each his own, of course, but I think it’s rather important to keep track of the goings on on our planet. News may never be positive, as Michiel said, but some things happen that we, as a human race, should not ignore.
In Europe, for example, the integration (or not) of Islam is an ongoing issue that will have quite an influence on the quality of our living situation in the future. Just to name one example.

By the way, Boris, I love that you wrote “Design and Content © 1971-2008″ at the bottom of the blog. You were creative quite early on! ;-)

]]> By: Michiel Ebberink http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10001 Michiel Ebberink Wed, 14 May 2008 14:36:07 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10001 Same here. I don't read newspapers much and I try to avoid the news on television. News is never positive. Same here. I don’t read newspapers much and I try to avoid the news on television. News is never positive.

]]> By: Alper http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10000 Alper Tue, 13 May 2008 10:26:27 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-10000 Checking back on this discussion, it's funny how people with a vested interest in the media industries stand up to defend it. Anyway I just started to read the Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and he promises to prove that reading a newspaper may actually make you more stupid. I've yet to finish the book, but I think the premise is that standard media follows and even amplifies society's reflex to be reactive instead of being thoughtful. Checking back on this discussion, it’s funny how people with a vested interest in the media industries stand up to defend it.

Anyway I just started to read the Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and he promises to prove that reading a newspaper may actually make you more stupid. I’ve yet to finish the book, but I think the premise is that standard media follows and even amplifies society’s reflex to be reactive instead of being thoughtful.

]]> By: Abdul-Rahman Advany http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9999 Abdul-Rahman Advany Mon, 12 May 2008 14:45:24 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9999 @ernst-jan: do you really miss important information if you don't read it yourself? Last week I talked about politics, society, economics, and government with people who do keep up with the news without reading much of it myself. These people filter out the issues I don't care about and just get me up-to-date about that I want to know. If you don't read anything and you only hang out with crowd that doesn't care about anything else, I agree you would miss a lot. But thats why diversity of people you know is important! @ernst-jan: do you really miss important information if you don’t read it yourself? Last week I talked about politics, society, economics, and government with people who do keep up with the news without reading much of it myself. These people filter out the issues I don’t care about and just get me up-to-date about that I want to know.

If you don’t read anything and you only hang out with crowd that doesn’t care about anything else, I agree you would miss a lot. But thats why diversity of people you know is important!

]]> By: Ernst-Jan Pfauth http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9998 Ernst-Jan Pfauth Mon, 12 May 2008 13:59:41 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9998 If you don't read any quality newspapers, you miss important information about your society, economy and government. If more people were to cut out newspapers from their information diet, it would probably hurt the democracy. Since people won't be informed anymore, how will they find out for who they should vote every four years? And more specific, I think the technology industry is awesome and of the utmost important, yet like for all industries, it's dangerous to get totally sucked up in it. It limits your view and inspiration if you just stick to news about tech, before you know it you're Scoble... Just posting blabla about minor details most of the time. However, I think throwing out the TV is a great move. Most of it is crap anyway, and the things that ARE worth your time, are available on the web. If you don’t read any quality newspapers, you miss important information about your society, economy and government. If more people were to cut out newspapers from their information diet, it would probably hurt the democracy. Since people won’t be informed anymore, how will they find out for who they should vote every four years?

And more specific, I think the technology industry is awesome and of the utmost important, yet like for all industries, it’s dangerous to get totally sucked up in it. It limits your view and inspiration if you just stick to news about tech, before you know it you’re Scoble… Just posting blabla about minor details most of the time.

However, I think throwing out the TV is a great move. Most of it is crap anyway, and the things that ARE worth your time, are available on the web.

]]> By: Tobias Verhoog http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9997 Tobias Verhoog Sat, 10 May 2008 20:41:19 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9997 I think every time you cut something that you do (too) often out of your daily life for some time, it's a good thing. This shows your in control of your life and don't get controlled by it. This accounts for reading and watching news, but also for having a drink or a smoke or eating hamburgers. On the other hand I agree with Erwin that television also offers a lot of things that good be considered our culture, be it only the selection of programs and commercials. I think every time you cut something that you do (too) often out of your daily life for some time, it’s a good thing. This shows your in control of your life and don’t get controlled by it. This accounts for reading and watching news, but also for having a drink or a smoke or eating hamburgers.

On the other hand I agree with Erwin that television also offers a lot of things that good be considered our culture, be it only the selection of programs and commercials.

]]> By: Abdul-Rahman Advany http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9996 Abdul-Rahman Advany Sat, 10 May 2008 14:53:24 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9996 I don't watch TV (but I do watch online showns like TED, Google TechTalks, enc) and I don't read news (expect limited pool of feeds about tech, creativity, organizational theory, enc). I disagree with Erwin Blom in this matter. I feel connected to a society, but a different one, one thats busy with stuff that the mainstream news ignores and tv doesn't cover. For a big part its a internet oriented society, its global. But also its a great group of creative and passionate people, people who try to do stuff differently, who try to innovate in there field, if its arts, tech, or something else. And somehow that group of people don't expect me to know the latest soccer scores or the last things Wilders said about muslim... or something else I don't care about! If thats stupid! I am glad to be stupid :-) I don’t watch TV (but I do watch online showns like TED, Google TechTalks, enc) and I don’t read news (expect limited pool of feeds about tech, creativity, organizational theory, enc).

I disagree with Erwin Blom in this matter. I feel connected to a society, but a different one, one thats busy with stuff that the mainstream news ignores and tv doesn’t cover. For a big part its a internet oriented society, its global. But also its a great group of creative and passionate people, people who try to do stuff differently, who try to innovate in there field, if its arts, tech, or something else. And somehow that group of people don’t expect me to know the latest soccer scores or the last things Wilders said about muslim… or something else I don’t care about!

If thats stupid! I am glad to be stupid :-)

]]> By: mark hoekstra http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9995 mark hoekstra Sat, 10 May 2008 09:51:03 +0000 http://bomega.com/2008/05/09/my-information-diet/#comment-9995 throughout the last couple of years i've been watching less and less television to the point where it is now, nothing at all and i love it. it all started with a media center. instead of watching 'the unmissable programs' live, i recorded them to watch them later, but i hardly watched them later, so i stopped recording them and now, i don't watch anything anymore. somehow i can't stand it either anymore and that's mostly because of the advertising, when i watch a regular channel right now, i get annoyed after two blocks of advertising and i turn the thing off. i do watch documentaries/movies and sometimes stuff on uitzendinggemist, but than i'm in control and not the other way around. there's an end to stuff you decide to watch yourself, there's no end to television, it goes on and on and on... >To be honest Boris, i find both stupid. well, for me personally, before you know it, you spend two/three/four hours watching television and gaining *nothing* at all. how stupid is that? i read some news feeds, i scan headlines on newspapers when i buy cigarettes and i check the online version of teletekst and that's about it. i haven't had a subscription to a newspaper for almost ten years now and i never ever had the feeling i missed out on something. what do i gain? time, lots of it, to do stuff i want to do. i rather sit on the couch, feeling slightly uncomfortable because i don't know what to do with my time, than to be enjoyed by some ad-driven freak show on the television and forget about time at all. my 2 cents, oh btw, a nice read, also slightly dealing with this subject: Gin, Television, and Social Surplus http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html throughout the last couple of years i’ve been watching less and less television to the point where it is now, nothing at all and i love it. it all started with a media center. instead of watching ‘the unmissable programs’ live, i recorded them to watch them later, but i hardly watched them later, so i stopped recording them and now, i don’t watch anything anymore. somehow i can’t stand it either anymore and that’s mostly because of the advertising, when i watch a regular channel right now, i get annoyed after two blocks of advertising and i turn the thing off. i do watch documentaries/movies and sometimes stuff on uitzendinggemist, but than i’m in control and not the other way around. there’s an end to stuff you decide to watch yourself, there’s no end to television, it goes on and on and on…

>To be honest Boris, i find both stupid.

well, for me personally, before you know it, you spend two/three/four hours watching television and gaining *nothing* at all. how stupid is that? i read some news feeds, i scan headlines on newspapers when i buy cigarettes and i check the online version of teletekst and that’s about it. i haven’t had a subscription to a newspaper for almost ten years now and i never ever had the feeling i missed out on something.

what do i gain? time, lots of it, to do stuff i want to do. i rather sit on the couch, feeling slightly uncomfortable because i don’t know what to do with my time, than to be enjoyed by some ad-driven freak show on the television and forget about time at all.

my 2 cents,

oh btw, a nice read, also slightly dealing with this subject:

Gin, Television, and Social Surplus
http://www.herecomeseverybody......mouse.html

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