Living Analog in a Digital World
The other morning, my husband purchased a new computer and got it set up in our office before the kids got home from school. The moment our son walked through the door that afternoon, he said “You got a new computer!” He hadn’t yet stepped into our office and couldn’t see it, and all the boxes and packaging were out of sight. So I had to ask. “How did you know that?” “I smelled the ‘new computer’ smell!”
New computer smell??!! Like new car smell? Apparently, the olfactory systems of teenage children are especially adept at detecting the scent of new digital devices. They are naturals at recognizing the fragrance of ‘new Blu-Ray player,’ ‘new digital camcorder’ and ‘new iPhone’ as well. We are surrounded by digital thingamabobs. Now you know how I love my gadgets, but is it possible that sometimes we have just a little too much digital in our lives?
The Meaning of Digital
Let’s take a look a the meaning of digital. Definitions include “manipulating with finger or fingertip” and “available in electronic form, readable and manipulable by computer.” It’s all in the manipulation. The big electronics companies manipulate us into desiring and buying the latest contraptions that are supposed to make our lives easier, but invariably we end up in tangle of power cords and USB cables and spending way too much money on double-A batteries.
I don’t consider myself old (although my children might disagree), but a lot of today’s computer and digital lingo had very different meanings in my childhood:
- A memory device was known as the brain
- Scanning was done with your eyes
- Bits and bytes always involved teeth
- A CD was an investment tool that you hoped would make you a lot of money
- Drive was something you couldn’t wait to do on your 16th birthday
- A hard drive involved a cross-country trip with two parents, three siblings, two suitcases, an ice chest and a dog, all stuffed into a station wagon
- A mother board was a nasty paddle for spanking bad kids
The Power of Analog
So if digital is so great, why are my children also fascinated with its polar opposite: analog? One of the things they consider coolest is my old Pentax 35 mm “analog” camera. It uses real film. That you have to crank and rewind. By hand! And you can’t see your pictures instantly. You have to take the film somewhere to be developed, so you never know what you’re going to get (like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates). When they open the envelope of printed pictures, each image is a little gift offering the chance to relive the moment long after it has passed.
And don’t get me started on record albums. We actually went out and bought a turntable so the kids could listen to The Beach Boys, Bobby Sherman, The Chipmunks and of course, The Beatles, as they were originally intended at 33-1/3 RPMs. Is it a coincidence that sales of vinyl records are up by 33% from the previous year!
If everything old becomes new again, then there’s hope for me. For while I live for faster downloads, the incredible information resource called the internet and the immediacy of email, I still think nothing is nicer than receiving an “analog” letter or card that someone took the time to write. With a pen. By hand.
When the digital world starts to overwhelm our lives, perhaps we can just press Alt+Ctrl+Delete and start the day over again…
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuant63/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
So true…This also made me think of couples who choose to wait to learn the sex of their baby upon delivery. It seems that the common thread in new technology is to get information faster with less space taken up by the packaging. Cds are so much smaller than lps and the new computerized notebook computers with online books also takes up so much less space. There is a lot to be said about holding a book in your hand, with the “book smell.” I remember unwrapping a new lp and getting lost in the cover as the record spun round on my turn table. I especially liked the albums with lyrics like Tapestry, Songs in the Key of Life and Still Crazy After All These Years. Now with downloaded music its just stored in our little gadgets with nothing tangible to sit and read and even dispay. Do you remember when the Partridge Family album came with a free book cover? Boy, if you carried a book covered with one you were “groovey” :o)
Excellent post Donna! Thanks for the stroll down memory lane :o)
Some music album downloads come with a digital book and liner notes, but it’s just not the same, is it? No Kindle for me. Like you, I enjoy the tactile experience of turning the pages, and yes, that “book smell.” Thanks as always for your comments, Gina.
Although, in these fast times the new technology does make life easier, there will never be any substitute for the slower times of way back when we were younger unless we deliberately take the time to escape the madness of cells phones, pagers, faxes, emails, IM’s etc…In my opinion, nothing compares to a quiet evening by yourself or with a significant other either at home or at quiet spot in a park or lake. It gives us a chance to relax, contemplate, meditate and energize our minds, bodies and souls. Yes, there are other venues of relaxation whether its listening to music, enjoying meals with family or having drinks with friends, to each their own. I think every one should try to make it a point to find their muse and enjoy life as much as possible for no one truly knows how long we have in this world of ours. So during the life in the fast lane, let us proclaim “carpe diem” and stop and smell the roses for life can be sweet if we try.
Nicely said. Thanks for stopping by my blog, Daniel.
They do have machines that take your old LPs and turn them in to CDs – but it’s not the same, I think. I remember my Dad’s 78s in the brown albums with individual slips/pages that held each record. I learned to love The Andrews Sisters, Dick Haymes, Bing Crosby and Phil Harris from those wonderful old 78s .
I love modern tech and tend to be an early adopter – but I do not lose my love for what came before and I always try and take the time to smell the roses . Thanks for the reminder!
I love gadgets too but I find that my purse weighs roughly the same as a wheelbarrow full of bricks with my cell phone, my itouch, my pda etc. in there. And I can never find the one I’m looking for because my purse is so big….to hold all the gadgets, plus the lipstick (I carry three around), the wallet, the checkbook, my reading glasses,etc. that one must have. I like the ipad idea a lot…I mean a real lot! But it’s not a phone, or a camera. I need something big to read on like my kindle with a phone, pda, camera, ipod,checkbook, lipstick, drivers license, etc. Then they can just put a handle on it and I can carry THAT around. How ’bout that Microsoft or Apple? Can you do that for me?