Simon Pont’s book Digital State: How the Internet is Changing Everything was published in June 2013 by Kogan Page. I asked him about his books and his life and he answered.

To see which books and authors have influenced him, see his list here.

How did the book start? Why did you take on this particular book project?

“The book started as a conversation with my publisher, Matthew Smith, at Kogan Page. We were talking around how the digital age is reshaping society, how we all have a data trail, how it’s a fine line, razor sharp in fact, between a transparent world and one that invades privacy and civil liberty.

"There was then another conversation over supper with Helen Kogan, about how different (or not) Facebook is to being a teenager hanging out at night by the bus stop. It’s a long story, from a very social night. But long-short, these two conversations sowed seeds and triggered questions like: 

"How is society evolving, as a consequence of technological change? How has this invisible technology, ‘digital,’ become this cultural contagion that we’ve all bought into but also can’t escape? How has the very idea of the Nation State changed, been usurped even by this 'Digital State’ we’re in?

"Once these questions started fizzing around, there was no real turning back. You have to look for answers, otherwise it becomes a set of whispers that can send you crazy.”

What did the experience of writing this book teach you about your writing/writing process?

“Before Digital State, I’d written one novel and one other non-fiction title. My novel, Remember to Breathe, is 90’s set, in a time 'Before Facebook.’ It’s part rom-com, part rites of passage, part gender satire - which sort of nets out at genre-bending. My previous non-fiction title, The Better Mousetrap, is all about how brands must keep re-inventing if they are to retain fame and consumer following.

"This new book, Digital State, was a very different experience to the other two. Where my first two books were personal journeys - though the content of each coming from very different places - Digital State is an anthology. 16 chapters, 14 contributors. My role was as writer and editor. It was a shared journey; an ever-so precarious adventure more akin to forming a garage band.”

So, the idea of Digital State following an anthology-album felt important?

“Yes, very much so. Tim Berners-Lee described the internet as a 'collaborative play-space.’ Very simply, I wanted the format to reflect the theme, to be a collaborative discourse. And so I sourced my own crowd; loved the idea of inviting people I know (friends and experts in their respective fields) to form our own band and see what kind of album we could make.

"I figured there was one future where we might go multi-Platinum, and another where there’d be blood on the garage floor, mixing in with the puddles of engine oil.”

Are there any talents or skills you are currently cultivating?

“This is where I’d like to say something that sounds cool and snappy, like, I’m learning sax, or, I’m teaching myself Mandarin. Only, I’m not learning sax. I’m borderline tone deaf, was told to mime playing the recorder as a kid, and the closest I’ve got to mandarin is eating one.

"I think being the better version of yourself is a fairly planet-sized challenge that’s healthy to look straight in the eye once in a while. Being a parent, and trying to do a good job at it, is a lifelong challenge. Trying to strike the right kind of work-life balance can be damned hard too, because it’s too easy to get sucked into projects where it’s hard to step back.

"The French poet Anatole France once said, 'Our passions are ourselves.’ I’ve always loved that line. Our passions define us. By extension, I think ‘Our obsessions are ourselves.’ They not only explain us but help explain what we accomplish. I think any success comes in part from being obsessive - but the trick is to not sacrifice all else when you’re in that obsessive place.

"Perspective, balance, priority; I’m trying to cultivate abilities in all three. I figure I’m a permanent work-in-progress.”

Is there any technology to which you find you are particularly addicted?

“This question is, of course, very pertinent to some of the themes in Digital State.

"It’s fascinating to me that technology has even become a thing of potential addiction, a 21^st century narcotic for most of us. We’ve suddenly all become technophiles.

"This sensation of not feeling connected, of not being with our mobile phone or an internet connection, is creating a very new sense of estrangement and alienation. At the same time, having that connection is potentially disconnecting us from the physical and emotional moment. With social media, we run the risk of developing a ‘curators conceit’ and turning ourselves into the biographers and chroniclers of our own digitally abridged and polished life-narratives.

"I’m coaching myself to try and feel good about being out of wi-fi area once in a while.”

Finish this sentence: When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be…

“Y’ know, this question always worried me when I was a kid. Because I had no idea. At least, no realistic idea. James Bond looked like he was having a pretty good time, but beyond a life of romantic espionage, exotic travel and alluring femme fatales, I had no clear back-up plan. So if you’d asked my 12 year old self to finish the sentence, I’d have drawn a troubled blank. By the time I hit my late teens, I knew what I really wanted to be was a writer, but I’ve always looked upon writing as more of a passion and vocation, rather than any sure-fire way of paying the mortgage.

"Stephen King’s line in On Writing is genius, where he says, 'Writers write.’ In other words, doing is being. I love that, because it kills any doubts, cuts through the crap and tells you to get on with it, or get on with something else. Advice rarely gets more sage.”  

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

“My children. No question. Easy answer. I know almost anyone can do it, become a parent; that almost all of us are made biologically capable… but I still find the concept of having children remarkable. You become a parent, and your only point of former reference is when you were a child yourself. No one - outside of the caring professions - is equipped with any previous experience. So from day one, it’s a crash course… in what can feel like free falling.

"Getting to witness and be part of my children’s lives is amazing, the greatest privilege, and yes, a fairly frequent test of patience.   

 

If you could give your past self one piece of advice, what would it be?

"Savour the moments, as they happen, when they happen. Truly, feel them. 'The Present’ is a tense I think many of us could live in more. It’s so easy and tempting to be looking forward or reflecting back. We live in ‘The Past’, nostalgically, regretfully, re-running, even re-writing. We live in ‘The Future’, planning, worrying about the ‘what if?’ and aspiring to the ‘what might be?’

"A little clichéd as motifs go, but I find sunrises and sunsets provide jarringly poignant moments of ‘Right Now’. I still need to heed my own advice much more – because I can get carried away thinking forward – but I’m trying to savour the metaphorical sunsets.”

READ ABOUT SIMON PONT BY CLICKING HERE!  Be sure to say hello at www.simonpont.com and @SimonPont.