digg

Facebook Connect Join Digg About

YouTube Surprise: British Grandpa(79) is at the top of the most-subscribed

news.yahoo.com — 79,000 viewings and 6,500 subscribers, putting him at the top of the most-subscribed list on YouTube in the past week

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 14, 2006

Digg DudeWhat is Digg?

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg surfaces the best stuff as submitted and voted on by the community. Take the Tour to learn more.

89 Comments

show profanity settings
expand all
  • Rummy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+148I find it pretty reasuring that one of YouTube's most popular contributors isn't some teen chic with low self esteem shaking her ***** at the camera.
  • vdxc, on 09/29/2008, -2/+60in all fairness, how many 78 year olds do video blogs?
  • smtelegadis, on 10/12/2007, -13/+70I on the other hand appreciate the efforts made by those "teen chics" and feel that that demographic is poorly represented main stream media.

    Bravo, to the teen chics, dare I say, BRAVE enough to "Shake her *****" for the benefit of the Internet community.
  • x0inx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+56this old man kicks ass
  • saudukargeneral, on 10/12/2007, -3/+43His first video
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_YMigZmUuk

    His profile
    http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=geriatric1927
  • jj555298, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23This is amazing, for many reasons. Imagine how baffled network executives are to realize hundreds of thousands of people are interested in watching an elderly man talk. YouTube is an amazing service to have, I just can't stop thinking about how privileged we are. This man, a stranger with a web cam, is telling stories of his life to hundreds of thousands of people across the world... Just think about that for a minute.. WOW. Services like YouTube will be a pivotal turning point in entertainment and communication, and this man being featured in a news story is proof that it is already happening. Im staying tuned into YouTube for his next installment, maybe you should too.
  • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23I have to disagree, cadavreexquis. I am fascinated by stories told by our older generations, they tell a story of a world we don't know. I could sit and listen to them for months.

    If you like this guys videos and you're lucky enough to still have your grandparents, make sure you ask them to tell you their experiences. If you don't, when they're gone, you'll wonder just what stories they had to tell...
  • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22How awesome is this guy. Seriously, he proves what the internet is capable of.
  • brandonr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Some of those negative comments really irk me. I know I'm not contributing a lot to the discussion here on digg, but I think there's something important that should be realized about the internet. It may take less than 5 seconds to flame somebody, but it takes a bit longer to create a well thought out comment to leave. Just because you don't have to face the people you're flaming in a direct sense, you're still being a jerk.
  • kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20born in 1927. so , he would have been a teenager during World War 2.

    thats why i could spend months listening to the older generation - its like having your very own time machine...

    i got chatting to an older chap in the pub a few months ago. looked like any other older guy - turned out that he was a paratrooper in the battle for Arnhem, in 1944! Man, he had some stories to tell.




  • ArcticCelt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17What I like about his videos is that it feels like an extraterrestrial is contacting us for the first time. The reason is that mainstream media as being run now for so long by marketing specialists who decided that old people are not cool that we are not used to see the image of a grandpa speaking to teenagers and young adults on video.

    Traditional TV only seams to use old people in young kids TV shows, playing the stereotypical role of old grandpa/grandma or in infomercials to sell some crap to other old folks. It’s nice to see this dude speak about whatever he wants to whoever he wants.

  • kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16damn good point. i'd rather listen to the stories of the older generation , than the hours and hours of rubbish like "Big Brother" or "Love Island" (these are the two "reality" shows on UK tv at the moment...)
  • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15P.S. Could we get him over here on Digg to give us his views on Digg topics? That'd be great.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15I think that women is really brave. So she has a speech problem, but what she is actually saying is heartwarming and appreciative. Don't be an *****.
  • kyledavis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Wow...just....WOW! The fact that the Internet can now turn a humble 79-year-old man into a superstar overnight is just mind-altering.
  • JoeyDeacon, on 10/12/2007, -10/+18He must have stumbled on the site looking for young shaking boobies.
  • ZoomBoy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11This guy is very interesting. I some how stumbled onto his first video and just watching his videos relax me. It reminds me of when my grandparents would tell me stories - he's my only subscription on youtube...
  • comradechimp, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11"advertisement cloths"? Are those like loincloths?
  • Googled, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Why because she maybe a little different from you? So what, grow up JED9.

  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7i hope someone is getting a copy... to put on youtube :)
  • qwertydvorak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7this is a rant, and it isn't against the old guy (i love listening to older people talk).

    is the internet some new magical place ? i mean like BRAND NEW ? why is it that ap/reuters/other wire services that put out info like this can't figure out how to add a simple hyperlink to the place the story is talking about ? i know that i can go searching, but it is just like some of the other stories that pop up on news sites and are talking about some photo without putting up the photo. the internet is a magical thing links and photos and multimedia and such... START USING THEM.
  • *Ica*, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6He's on BBC1 NOW, check it out if ur in the UK
  • inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7> why is it that ap/reuters/other wire services that put out info like this
    > can't figure out how to add a simple hyperlink to the place the story
    > is talking about

    Having worked in the news media, I can answer this although you probably won't like it. It will remove your sense of ranting at the media (but don't feel too bad--most ranting directed at the media nowadays is misguided anyway.)

    They *can* figure out how to add links, but since most of these stories are print-bound (i.e., headed for ink and dead trees), they have to work in the context of a newspaper's thin columns which doesn't allow for long URLs (anything longer than google.com and you're looking for trouble.) The problem is that you have to cut the link over a line and add a dash which confuses readers (does the URL contain the dash or not?) most of whom are too lazy and stupid to try the same link without the dash or refuse to check for typos before emailing the newspaper and complaining, which just wastes everyone's time. So, for the most part, you want someone to blame for that? Blame those reading the news who have proven that it's best not to put confusing info in their hands.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@jj555298

    dont say it too loud, or those network executives will go and hire this old chap and destroy the whole thing :)
  • duest, on 10/12/2007, -8/+13Old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I subscribed a couple of days ago after seeing a post on the main youtube page. Love the guy!

    I think we may see more old people signing up when they realize that people on the internet will actually listen to their stories. This really could become a great archive of peoples life stories.
  • mandi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think this man is absolutely wonderful. And I hope the younger generation responds to it -- we could all do well to take some time to listen to what our elders have to say, I think.

    A comment I noticed on one of his earlier posts said something to the effect of how it's very neat how new technologies (like YouTube) are promoting ancient oral traditions ... I thought that was a very cool observation.
  • Conway, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9septuagenarian? Looks like I learned a new word today. +digg.
  • Chestnut3499, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Yeah, I found his stuff just this weekend. He is hilarious!
  • Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"rule the waves" dear boy, not the world.

    Pip Pip
  • anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@ fixed

    MTV already did this with an old man. They sent him to gigs around the UK and he interviewed the younger generation. You saw him trying things like weed for the first time and learning what a 'posse' was etc. It proved popular for a while.
  • plasmatic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I subscribed to him after his first video. His video was talked about in a segment on ctv news which is a popular channel in Canada. This guy is great, I love listening to his videos.
  • beatmonger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5...One trick is to tell 'em stories that don’t go anywhere -- like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Give me five bees for a quarter," you’d say...
  • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3As I said above, this is why the internet is so brilliant. I don't think these people blogging on YT would ever have their views listened to in another medium, but here we are, all listening to what everyone else has to say, responding and replying. Here we have a pensioner telling us his personal stories, and a lady with some kind of impediment responding to it. Neither would have the opportunity to have the world listen to what they have to say if it weren't for the internet.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I think his videos are great, its great to see someone his age online and useing youtube, his life is very intresting, its kind of sad, it seems as if he is going over everything before it comes to a close. But, i think its excellent, the world can see how he lived, and how his life was, maybe this will inspire others to do the same
  • rauz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3http://digg.com/videos_people/78_Year_Old_videoblogger_makes_an_impression_on_You_Tube
    The joke was made by someone else though, sorry for the rash conclusion :)
  • apotropaic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4make that

    Views: 210,586 | Subscribers: 10005

    thanks to this news article
  • Jimbo51, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3BBC News, LOL, talk about overwhelming! Long live Peter!
  • gaznet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Just shows what the Internet has achieved for some on that age to be contributing on the web.. Well done chap..

    I bet the only time he isn't on-line is when he is in the pension que!
  • Rotkiv, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5this guy has the best video blog on youtube! it's just funny thinking about an old guy obsessed with a web site.
  • stealthyninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3aaaz: Thanks for posting this. Too often what's terrible about the Internet, or rather, the terrible people that get loosed upon it, gets highlighted in the media because anger, angst, cynicism and just general nastiness has somehow become more important than just the average Joe or Jo-anne saying something -- that doesn't even need to be interesting, inspiring or life-altering to you personally -- it's just the fact that it's out there. I think more people would post up their thoughts if they weren't afraid of the backlash too many others have suffered from the ubiquitous internet jerks and trolls out there who, for whatever reason, seem to enjoy denigrating anything that doesn't conform to their (often twisted) world view. I'm not preaching "be nice to everyone all the time", I just wish more people would take at least five minutes to post down something coherent in response to something they've read, watched or listened to instead of approximately two seconds to post something idiotic or just terrible because of the worst reason they could: basically, because they can.
  • RocketDaza, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4http://digg.com/world_news/Grampa_from_Youtube_Gets_on_the_news
    BBC Video
  • Familyguykiller, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Ha ha i love this old guy. I been viewin ever video he puts on. Its interestin to hear him talk and its a breath of fresh air from alot of the dumb crap.
  • Nightfall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Never heard of this guy until today. Now, after viewing his videos, I am impressed. Reminds me of the stories I used to hear from my Grandfather a long time ago. I was 15 when he passed away and therefore don't remember an awful lot. These stories are gems and worth watching.
  • razicop, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1yea, i saw him before...
  • terrablebyte, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"And remember folks, in less time than you know it, you too will be Peter, talking about the old days when there was the thing called the Web"

    I can imagine it now....

    "In the olden days we didn't have these new-fangled fibre optic cables, they were just regular old tubes..." :)

    Good on him though. That guy is cool!
  • DavidYeah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I was excited to see Peter's videos and their huge response because it seems we've lost important contact with older, wiser members of our world, since technology and 'coolness' seems to leave them at the wayside.. Hopefully people like Peter will inspire our older generations to give the PC a shot, sort of a "if he can do it, why can't I?" Attitude.

    It remains to be seen if a bunch of elderly people complaining about their day on YouTube is any worse than a bunch of teens complaining about theirs, however.

    Either way, get used to it, because in a few short decades the elderly will be just as common as the twentysomething.
  • Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2And remember folks, in less time than you know it, you too will be Peter, talking about the old days when there was the thing called the Web.
  • ictoan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Aww, Peter reminds me of my grandparents. They always told the best stories. And.. the British accent is a plus ^o^
  • anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I left a comment on his profile telling him YouTube wasn't the only place his fanbase exists and invited him to join Digg. However, after leaving the message, I read through a few of his other comments. It's absolutely disgusting to see what some people are saying to him.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 89 of 89 discussions

  • Add a Comment

    Login or register to comment!
    Or, sign-in super fast with your Facebook account ...


© Digg Inc. 2009 — Content created and posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain | Terms of Use Updated | Privacy Policy
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.