There is no question as to the huge contributions the digital world has made to improve life (except perhaps social media) but there are a few things I still enjoy that are from the pre-digital world.

  Print Media – There is something about ink on paper that makes it more real for me than words that appear on an electronic device. Holding a newspaper is more comforting and believable than something that appears on a blog. Anyone can publish anything they want on blogs and on social media with no accountability. A newspaper takes a lot of production as well as printing and distribution costs. Not that I believe everything I read in a newspaper either, but that is up to the reader to determine. I just like the tangibility of print and its tradition.

  The same goes for books and magazines. I understand all the positive points of a Kindle but the feel of a book and turning pages is part of the pleasure of reading for me.

  Music – Recorded music has made so many transitions over the years, many of which are considered improvements, (with the exception of the eight-track cassette tape). Digital music is easily available and its remastered original recordings have been ’cleaned up’ for better sound quality. But in a way similar to print media there is a more tangible and firsthand feel of playing your own vinyl record.  Placing the turntable arm and stylus on a rotating vinyl disc and seeing it gradually move over the surface of the record producing sound is still magical to me. I don’t really know where music I hear on Alexa comes from, but with records you see it as well as hear it. I also think the sound is more authentic on a record.

  Photography – Here is another technology that has undergone many transitions. Digital photography has put good photo quality in the hands of anyone who has a smart phone. It is totally superior to film. I never completely understood how film was able to capture an image nor can I explain it digitally. But my most enjoyable times as a photographer were spent in a darkroom, processing and printing black and white photos. Again, that type of process is hands-on and gives you more involvement with the medium. Film, like vinyl recordings, may not be of the quality its digital counterparts produce but they have a certain quality of their own which should not be written off.

  In our high speed digital world, it’s good to settle back, slow down and get back to analog, occasionally.