Anyone Else Annoyed with digital....miss "Real" Stuff?

One thing that does make me nuts is the fact that many people want Nooks or reading tablets ... I LIKE the smell of a book and the feel of the paper, why oh why are we getting rid of books? Btw I do get the "green" side of it but I also think that we can recycle more too.

My iPhone is practically another appendage on my body! But, yes, I do miss some of these "old school" formats! I do keep a paper address book, I have DVDs of my favorite movies, we play board games, and I still talk to my mom, sister, and best friend on the phone.
One thing I wish I could/would go back to is printing photos! All of my picture frames have old (2years +) pictures, because I never print out the new ones!! (Note to self: trip to the store to print pictures, this weekend!)

Oh, and I refuse to get a book e-reader. Nothing compares to holding a book in your hands and turning the paper pages!!

On one hand yes but then again, those lucky enough to be swapping computers regularly are suffering from first world problems. ;) I don't use iTunes but I love having an MP3 player vs disks. Remember accidentally dropping your favorite CD in the car and it getting a nasty scratch which caused your finicky CD player to either skip three tracks or just get stuck trying to read the disk for twenty minutes before spitting it out like the tongue of an unruly child? I'd take having to re-download my favorite tracks, taking five minutes of trouble, than having to buy a whole new CD because the car ate mine.

Outlook? Dump that dinosaur and put all your contacts into gmail. That way no matter where you are, you have access to all your information, and you can avoid the "I'm updating and need to drag another thing with me to my new rig". It's all online and backed up.

Movies. I'll give you that one. I prefer knowing I'll have access to favorites whenever I want and online services perticular quirk of "rotating" stock is annoying. So I keep DVD's of my favorites, of which I have few, but I wouldn't give up hulu or netflix to go back to only having DVD options. In 2012 it's nice to be able to use either or instead of being forced to get everything on disk, and spending a fortune to do it.

As for photos, consolidate, consolidate, consolidate. Create a central media server that's for nothing but music and photos. Shove a couple terabyte drives into it and then, since it's just acting like a server on your network, anyone in the house can access the central digital music library and photo archives no matter how many computers they upgrade to. Don't blame the technology of the day for your lack of imagination. ;) I'd take this way of doing things over having to find space to store all those old photo albums that are a pain to dig out and look at, instead of being able to check out your stuff on a whim with a click of a button.

Also, do you remember how bad taking photos were before the digital revolution? It really was an art form, and not many of us were skilled photographers. You buy a roll of film, point, and shoot with no little screen to show you sort of what it was going to look like. Then you had to pay a hefty fee to get them processed only to find out half of them were blurry and the other half were overexposed. You'll never be able to go back to retake those shots so the event is lost forever! With digital you can see what the shot looks like right away! Toss it and make people sit still for another one until you finally get the one you want. You can take a zillion shots on multiple little memory cards and then pay nothing to put them onto your computer and tweak them to your hearts content, picking only the best of the bunch to save. I wouldn't go back to the old way of taking pictures because, well, I really really sucked taking good photos with pre digital cameras.

I have all my photos consolidated into one large, very organised system and I've taken the choicest shots and created various "albums" on facebook. And if I want to move them somewhere, facebook has an "export album" button that will dump all the photos, captions and all into a file to be imported elsewhere.

If you're feeling disheveled in this digital age, it's time to get organized! Start with a central server for the home. It's a gift that keeps on giving and a great asset when so much of our lives have evolved away from an analog world.

I am 21, grew up in the digital age I guess you could say but I can still say the best memories I have are sitting on the floor getting out all of grandma's pictures. Or when I started to finally want to read. ( the new smell like you said) or messing with my sisters tapes.( i was a trouble maker) I know the feeling of wanting the old back. I love the technology for the idea of connecting to people I may not meet on the streets but I will still write my grandparents and my mom a letter and stick an actual picture inside. I love this post it is so real, down to earth and something that should be taught to our children to keep the "old" alive!

I'm old enough to remember the party line phones and don't miss that but I hate seeing people walking around looking at a cell phone and not even looking at you. I used to know everyone's address, phone number, birthday, etc. Now my 'brain' is on the computer. I loved records, we still have a lot, and you sat and enjoyed them but didn't walk around with plugs in your ears at times you should be talking to humans. I miss much about the good ole days. BUT if I had a wreck I can call for help instead of sit and wonder if I can trust a stranger, I can use GPS on my cell to find places instead of stopping at a pay phone (do they still exist?) so some things are good and others aren't. I hope some of us have pictures left to show the next generations what life was like in our day.

It's not the fact that we can lose stuff with all the digital equipment but also in a way we are dumbing down ourselves. How many people under 30 can actually read a map? How many can find the North Star? Hey I don't need that I have GPS. Well if your GPS isn't updated and you get lost you may not be able to find the way out.
I don't have a GPS or a smart phone, I hate texting **talk to me**. But I can find the North Star and I am smart enough to know that if I need to go West the North Star should be on my right. If it's daytime and afternoon and I need to go West the sun should be in my eyes.
I resisted getting a cell phone for years because I didn't want to be that accessible to EVERYONE. If I am out for a girls night out relaxing and having fun I don't need a boss or co-worker calling--I'm off the clock, talk to me tomorrow.
I have a turn table and records and love them.

Remember 100-150 years ago pioneers traveled from St Joe MO to Oregon, Washington and Northern California, following the stars and sun and made it. They had guides and good old fashion common sense.

Nope!

Because anything I want oldschool I can HAVE oldschool.

Newschool has saved me 10's of thousands of dollars, saved my life twice, and has been utterly invaluable to both my own and my son's education. I LOVE that we're living in a science fiction turned fact world!!!

I am with you all the way! I am so sick of all of this stuff "making my life better" because, you know what, my life was fine just the way it was! I am sick to death of figuring out new stuff every time a new product, or an update comes out. Everything "tech" breaks in a minute - just an excuse to have you go out and buy more! And then when you get the new one, DON'T FORGET THAT WILL NEED TO BE UPDATED BECAUSE THERE WILL BE A NEW VERSION BY THEN, even though its only been a week!
I am so so tired of technology, and mostly, technology not working the way it is supposed to - and making me feel like an idiot when I can't figure somthing out, so much so that I literally want to pull every hair out of my head, one by one, because that would be far less painful than figuring another electoric gadget out!
Lord help us!

I'm only in my early 30s and I had to be dragged into the digital age. I didn't get a cell phone til I had my stepkids to fetch after school. I didn't get an ipod til DH got me one and almost all the music on it is DH's. My Garmin is very handy, but many is the time that someone has blindly followed it without thinking (SS is terrible - he can use his phone and it's always steering him wrong). I miss the richness of analog. There's just something missing in digital, where it's computerized and compressed. Do I really want another video player? Why can't I stick with DVD? Bluray? Really? And it wasn't like VHS was the best at the time, either. Just the one that won the market.

I HAVE lost photos and don't really trust my backup hard drives (I have 2). Maybe that's what bugs me about digital - it's precarious. My book is not going to lose it's mind. If the power goes out, I can still get a flashlight or use natural light in the daytime. I can loan one book without losing my library (SS has a Nook or Kindle - forget which - and he wanted DH to read a story but then kept bugging DH for it back.)

We are truly living in Star Trek, but I like more balance between relying on computers and not having technology. If I lived on the Enterprise, I'd so be Bones, complaining about every transporter trip. Not everyone is in love with computers.

Ah..a mama after my own heart! I've posted many times about my facetime vs. facebook mentality!

I totally agree about getting pictures "developed." I remember when one-hour photo was all the rage. We'd run to CVS and just linger by the magazines waiting, waiting, waiting. Then we'd run home and make an album, the kind with the sticky paper that always yellowed years later!!!!

And Facebook will probably rule the world but even then I probably won't "like" it. We are losing interpersonal skills with every post and text. Just today I CALLED, yes, CALLED my friend to wish her a happy birthday. She TEXTED me back thank you!!!

While I sound like a dinosaur, I know my daughter will be kicking my paper butt, years from now!!

About the only thing I have not gone digital for are books. But that is only partially, as I've downloaded a few of the cheaper or shorter options onto my iPad. Long books, like my Tom Clancy novels are always going to be read in book form. I still have all my old CDs and DVDs, but I don't buy nearly as many anymore.

I make the time to learn different tricks and keep up with new technology. It's not going away and I'm going to embrace it so I don't get left behind! If your current technological choices aren't working for you, try something different. There are so many options out there that something is bound to fit your needs.

I'm 41, so I remember the days before PCs, cell phones and Internet. Far less stressful! I made it through college without a computer, cell phone or Internet and life was good. I started my career without being easily accessible to my employer 24/7 and it was great. I could go to Target and not have to listen to other people's phone calls.

I still keep most of my address book in paper form, with only key contacts in my cell phone.

My husband's a computer consultant and also an audiophile. He's gone old school with the audio, buying an old turntable and listening to records.

I try not to hate technology because it's my husband's career, but it sure would be great if his clients couldn't interfere with our family time so easily.

I very much relate to all you've shared.

Yes actually, I totally agree with you. I haven't' talked to family in months! It's all via facebook chats. So, I called my mom today and we actually spoke over the phone, it was so nice.

The pictures thing stresses me out as well.

I with you and im 32! I like to pick up a book with actual paper pages and get lost in it. I do have cds and a walk man (thank u kindly!) The only thing I do think is awesome is this here android phone! Once my 15 yr old taught me to use it, couldn't figure it out myself :( I love all these apps! Super cool!

You are not alone. I have an address book and I enjoy writing in it. I always print all of our photos so I have hard copies. Besides it's more enjoyable to page through a physical album. Ditto on books. I have a Nook but my real love are my actual books. I love their feel, smell and weight. Nothing beats a bookstore for me. Other than goofying off on Mamapedia and doing real work at work on the computer I spend almost zero time on a computer after hours. I have never joined Facebook or MySpace or whatever. If I want to talk to someone, I pick up the phone. I like real people with real faces with real voices with real gestures when I want to stay in touch.

I've just started PRINTING my photos before deleting my memory card. I do upload them on my computer too, but how often do you get on the computer for memory lane? There's something about sitting down with your precious pictures that you took time to put in the photo album.

I also refuse to get a GPS... I insist that I've been finding my way for 10 years and I will continue to do so!

I got a Nook thinking I'd use it all the time. I don't like it. There's something about a tangible book that I love.

Cell phones/smart phones have turned people into zombies! If you go through my answer history you will see I have mentioned this before. I'm SO tired of people who can't seem to put their phones down. I get there is a time and a place, but there is also a whole world outside that screen!!!!!

So, I guess you're not alone. I feel like an old lady complaining, but I too am in many ways sick of technology :-)

I like all the advances in technology. That is as long as no one tries to take my precious, hardcover and paperback books from me then I'm fine. :)
BTW: Please invest in a backup hard drive for your photos.

My only complaint with the digital age is that I am so dependant on "the grid." Our entire civilization could be brought to a screeching halt by a major power outtage. A click of a computer key and millions of dollars get moved, lost, bought, and sold. Everything is just data, just 1s and 0s. It can be deleted. If the Matrix ever goes down, we are screwed! That is the real apocolypse. Mighty Mighty world, dependant on bits and bites of data. Kind of comical in a nihilistic kind of way.

I am so thankful to see your question because sometimes I feel like the only one who see's this stuff. Agree with everything you said and sometimes (though I would miss sites like this from time to time) I feel like getting rid of all of it.

Totally agree! I won't even get a cell phone because I don't want to be constantly attached.