Shutdown Day

Many thanks to our friend Andrei Dryzgalovich who designed, developed and technically supported our project.Shutdown Day is a global Internet experiment whose purpose is to get people to think about how their lives have changed with the increasing use of the home computer, and whether or not any good things are being lost because of this.

Bystrov teamed up with his friends Nikolay Kudrevatykh, Michael Taylor (former trade floor occupant in stock markets in London, England) and David Bridle (part-time film maker from Cardiff, Wales), to present a challenge on the Internet, through the website shutdownday.org, challenging people to avoid their computers for 24 hours.

The idea was simple: Do you think you can stay away from your computers for at least 24 hours a day, and if yes, can you pledge to do so?What began as an innocent question, gathered an Internet chain reaction following, which drew millions of viewers from across the world.

Many of the group had plans to visit parks, engage in cleaning up public areas, enjoy hiking, camping, and outdoor photography.

IT Wire reported that media organizations such as Fox News, CNN, The Toronto Sun, The Washington Post were now carrying stories about Shutdown Day.