The Revenge of Analogue.

[DJ360 6,721]

Further to some brief discussion of hobbies in general and hi-fi in particular over in the 'How's your Day' thread.

 

Below is a link to an article about 'The Revenge of Analogue'.  All the more remarkable for being written by someone who heads up a Computer Audio magazine.

 

Anyway, it's a longish article so don't say you haven't been warned, but it covers some very interesting thinking about the way that people are responding to the universally 'dead hand' of digital, in audio/photography and even art/design etc., by returning to using vinyl, film, paper and pencil etc.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/728-revenge-analog-editorial-and-review/

 

Col

 

[loppylugs 8,427]

Interesting article, Col.  Well worth the read if one is even interested in the topic.  I am!

 

The opinions following the article are also interesting and serve to show the widely differing opinions on this topic and how strongly some hold them.   Interestingly enough I was in one of those large electronic stores yesterday upgrading my car stereo.  A topic for another day. LOL   I had time to wander around the store looking at all the high end tvs which I wouldn't watch if I bought one and all the other electronic goodies.  Must be age, I did not get as excited as I once would have and my credit card stayed firmly in my pocket.

 

This store used to sell a lot of CDs and DVDs in the past.  They were very noticeable by their absence.  Apart from a few rock cds which I happily passed by there were very few of any other genre.  Movie DVDs also seemed limited to new releases.  with a few older ones being sold off cheap.  I guess everybody now downloads and streams their stuff.

 

We could probably debate the relative merits /demerits of the various formats for hours.  I think however that what I miss most is the tactile physical touch of a product.  Even CDs had some nice artwork and a list of the tracks most often while some even included a booklet about the artist or works.  I liked that.

 

Similarly as the writer mentioned I like a physical book.  I can flip through it dog ear it, or use a bookmark. Easily pick it up even if for just a very few minutes.  I have downloaded a few Kindle books.  Most recent being a fairly scholarly book on the life of J S Bach.  It has been weeks on my Ipad and I have not read it through yet.  It is not that it is not interesting to me.  I just can't get engrossed in it like a physical 300 page paper book.

 

We have commented in the past about the swift change of media players.  Try to find an 8 track anymore.  If we have any 8 track tapes they are probably history.  VHS / Beta recorders.  Yes' I know they were analogue but the bees knees in their day.  Hard to find a player anymore and I'm sure the CD / DVD player will go the same way. along with USB drives etc,  I have loads of 8mm film of my kids growing up the projector still works and I copied them to DVD, but the day may come when they cannot play them but the old projector will still work.  Of course the dyes in the film may have faded by then.

 

Aaah progress!   Thanks for posting the article.

[DJ360 6,721]

You're very welcome Loppy.  It's an interesting topic.

It seems to me that storage of digital media is the real potential long term issue., because formats keep changing.  Many analogue audio mastertapes are also suffering from deterioration, but there are mostly 'hard' vinyl copies about which deteriorate very slowly, if at all, when correctly stored.

I've still got photo prints of my Grandfather taken over 100 years ago which have suffered little deterioration in that time and can still be accessed.  (You just look at them!)

But it's not just about storage, important as that is for posterity.  It's about the experience and the satisfaction of using older methods, like film photography, analogue recording etc.

 

Lots more I could say on this but let's see if anyone else has a view.

 

Col

[catfan 14,793]

It's all well & good the digital age but I cannot read e-books, no, it has to be a proper paper book for me !

[Tim in the North East 200]

As someone more erudite than me pointed out 'books don't require batteries'!

 

Having said that I have digitised over 200 CDs, got a lot of them on a phone that fits in my pocket and on holiday I take more digital photos in a day than I used to take with a film camera in a fortnight. This new technology is just too convenient.

[colly0410 1,181]

Yes I must admit I get misty eyed about old analog gubbins. I remember in the late 60's/early 70's that one of the highlights of my week (I was a bit sad) was the top 30: I usually listened on 1500 metres long wave as the signal was better than 247 metres medium wave. (Couldn't afford FM of course) Then a gale warning for shipping would come on & you'd quickly retune to a fading 247 metres as you didn't want to miss 'Mott the Hoople' then retune back to 1500 metres hoping the gale warning had finished. Also listened to a fading & distorting Radio Luxeburg for hours on end as nowt else on. Another thing you don't hear anymore is a stuck record, don't think youngsters even know what one is, also a snarled up cassette tapes. Mam used to shout at me for playing a record at 78 or 16, she said "you'll break it!" It never did though. Oh yeah & the last person to touch something was always to blame if/when it went wrong...

[Guest]

Nice post Collie..miss creating my own 'tabs' out of spit and toilet paper to pack into the little square hole on a cassette tape.

Or using a Biro to physically rewind the spool!

Luxembourg was great..despite the hiss and miss- I also loved that no one here was sufficiently American enough to understand what giving head meant in Lou Reeds hit.

Having no fitted carpets in the bedroom was an advantage.. one stomp in yer' Curtis's boots and the stuck record moves.

Why were there so many 2nd hand copies of Hergest Ridge in Selectadisc??