Analog Revolution

One of the default assumptions in my professional circle and probably the general culture as well is that going digital is the way to better utility and higher productivity. I’m having fun questioning that these days. My growing success with the hipsterPDA is one example. But many other practices deserve a look at their analog equivalent. Realizing this, I’ve gone to the habit of trying to write out everything longhand, preferably with a fountain pen, before touching a keyboard. It’s definitely a different writing experience. Does it help? I think so.

Computers are good at two things—being able to do complicated numerical transformations at amazing speed and being devices that can replicate information with perfect fidelity. It does not necessarily follow that digital interfaces are easy to construct or use nor that digital data is incorruptable and long-lasting. Were I to save the draft of this blog post, written in Noodler’s Ink, rather than commit it to the recycling bin, the paper document would likely far outlast the digital trace of this post. And let’s not even get started on the issues of electronic voting—it will suffice to say that the geekier one is, the more one is scared by the prospects of it.