The Battle of Analog vs Digital

Always on the edge. Always contemplating, planning, threatening to go analog.

Caution: unorganized thoughts below: 1

As a Gen X’er, I grew up in the analog era, and I retain both the right and the skill to return to it. I grew up without computers, cell phones, social media, or major newspapers. We had one local paper, some magazines, and plenty of books. In college, I got my first pager so I could find a pay phone, fish out some dimes and nickels, then beep a friend’s pager to call me back. We used all kinds of numeric codes for contact me, emergency, party tonight, what are you doing, etc.

For all the good technology brings, sometimes I’m not sure the good outweighs the bad. To a large degree, social media has a significant adverse effect on our mental health. With my current technology,2 which is pretty substantial (Synology, servers, cloud storage, Tailscale, VPNs, Subnets, Exit Nodes, Macs, iPads, iPhones, two blogs, etc), when it’s all working, it’s terrific; when it breaks down, it’s incredibly frustrating. I’ve certainly noticed a degradation in my attention span; I’ve been known to doom-scroll, and my wife has accused me of having ADHD—symptoms of our short attention digital world. One example is the shutdown of the Creative Live long-form educational website. They cite the lack of interest in long-form photography education.3-4

Let’s envision our personal world without the internet. How would this work?

My parents are almost completely analog. My dad is entirely; he does not use anything digital at all. My mom uses light email and surfing with an iPad. No computer. Very little use of the internet for business needs. My grandmother has no internet and uses no digital devices. It can still be done in the modern world.

How much digital could you remove from your life? Let’s focus on your personal life; you’re stuck with what you have at work.

Ebooks: I like them, I travel a lot, and I can carry hundreds of books with me at all times. I highlight, take notes, and everything syncs via Readwise, then into Obsidian. Could I drop all that and go back to paper books? Yes. I miss the feel and smell of paper. I could still highlight, write notes, etc. For a while, I would write out notes and highlights from the book I was reading on 3x5 cards, then either leave them in the book or file them for later use. I enjoy going back and reading my highlights and notes from old books. I do this every morning using Readwise, but I do have that backup analog plan.

Journaling/Writing: I use DayOne and Drafts right now. Could I go back to pen and paper, maybe a typewriter? Yes. Would it slow down your writing, absolutely, and perhaps that’s a good thing. I still journal weekly in a paper notebook. I love the feel of a pen on paper. I print out pictures and put stickers on the pages. I very much enjoy analog journaling and want to keep it alive.

All things financial: Banking, paying bills, etc. This would be very hard. Can you use the telephone to pay bills and stop into actual offices to drop off a check? Yes, you can. Depending on the size of the town you’re in, this could be easy or very hard. My grandmother and parents still drop off checks and pay credit card and cell phone bills via the phone. Would I want to do this? No. Not at all, but it could be done if needed.

Photography: This is a big part of my life, a daily hobby. I love my digital camera and Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, and ON1 software. Could I go back to film? Maybe even a small dark room to develop your own pictures? Again, part of me says this would bring back a lot of joy and simplicity. In high school, I shot on film and developed my own pictures in the photo lab. I loved it. I loved the craft of film photography and the darkroom, watching those pictures slowly appear, floating in the solution. Could be done.

To-do lists: I use Things and Reminders. They work great. Could I go back to a little notebook I carry in my pocket? Yes. Yes, I could. I have many Field Notes Notebooks that would be great for this.5

Surfing/News/Blogs: This would be the most challenging part. Losing connections to people that you follow on their personal blogs and Mastodon. When I left FB, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc, it was hard to lose some connections, but over time it’s been just fine. I can do it. But maybe this would also strengthen your connections with your community, your neighbors. I haven’t been to a local hobby group in many years. Not having the online world would change that for sure.

Business Needs: This would be impossible in some areas. Applying for jobs, grants, business forms, Federal and State applications, you may not have a analog choice here. It would be off to the library to use a computer. I think more and more is headed in this direction.

In summary, we may be moving toward a world in which it will be almost impossible to live without internet technology. But we can always limit it, watch out for the harm it causes in our lives, and adapt. Gen X’ers have seen a life without the internet; it was a good life. Is my life richer with the internet? Yes, in so many ways it is. I have so many more connections/friends and get exposed to so many more ideas/beliefs/thoughts that make me a better human being. That’s my lens I view all of this through, if it’s not making me a better, smarter, kinder, calmer, more compassionate human, then it needs to go. I think the good outweighs the bad if you control it and watch for the areas that affect you negatively. Long Live a Good Internet.

Card Catalog

Questions & thoughts that guided me in writing this post.

  1. How much digital could you remove from your life?
  2. How far could you push removing the internet?
  3. Get rid of all social media?
  4. There is a Luddite push that is active in America.
  5. Paper book, paper journal, paper to-do lists, newspapers, magazines,
  6. How much good does it bring to your life?
  7. How much frustration and angst?
  8. You’ll always have a little, banking apps, maybe one social media app.

Some areas I explored while thinking about this subject.

Books I read or referenced

  • Digital Minimalism – Cal Newport
  • How to Do Nothing – Jenny Odell
  • The Shallows – Nicholas Carr
  • Reclaiming Conversation – Sherry Turkle
  • Shop Class as Soulcraft – Matthew Crawford

  1. If you’ve read any of my blog posts, you know that I’m a terrible writer and my writing structure is a hot mess. I need a good, cheap editor! Ya, I consistently received C’s and D’s in English classes all the way through college. No one will ever pay me to write. But, hopefully, it’s enough to make you think about things; that’s the purpose of reading something: to challenge, to inspire, to make you think. Oh, and if you’ve made it this far into my writing, Thank You! I appreciate you and your time. ↩︎

  2. I do see the irony here. I’m maybe deeper into technology than the average person, but I always want a plan for an organized exit from it all. I’ve reduced my social media to a minimum and moved almost all of it to places I control. I love playing with and experimenting with new tech, using complex software that I really don’t need. But boy, do I have days when I want to drop all of it and just go build a cedar-strip canoe in the garage. Maybe a better way to say it is, I have a tech hobby, nothing in my life really depends on it, I could drop it all, and my life would be just fine, certainly better in some areas. Technology frustrates me to no end some days, but you know, all things have their day. Ever try to get your table saw fence straight… ↩︎

  3. I’m really going to miss Creative Live. I’ve purchased many courses from them, and the quality has always been good. You have until the end of the year to download all your courses. I highly recommend doing so. They even built a little downloader app to assist in the process. ↩︎

  4. This topic could be a whole blog post unto itself. I’ll cut it off here, stop babbling, and continue on with the central theme. ↩︎

  5. For whatever reason, I collected Field Notes for years. I have two tubs full of them. They would last me the rest of my life! I’ve been selling my rare ones on eBay, and they move pretty quick. ↩︎