Considering that I work in new media (I like that term although it's a tad dated), I am a lover of old media.
One time, we had gone on a trip with a bunch of friends. I grabbed my copy of the Sherlock Holmes omnibus to read on the flight. As we got out of the flight, my friend M took one look at the big book and laughed. She said, "You know that you can get that in e-book form, don't you?" I do know that but I'd take a book over an e-Reader any day. This may be a good place to admit that I have never used an e-reader. Never even held one of the gadgets in my hands. And in no particular rush to do so either. I am not averse to the idea of using an e-reader; it simply doesn't appeal to me as much as getting my hands around a real book, paper and print et al does.
I have an iPhone but honestly, I think I could make do with any other phone. It isn't that the the joy of design is lost on me. I love and appreciate simplicity and elegance in design and the tech gadget world is a great place to see examples of that style ethic. Yet I find myself aching for the more tactile pleasures. A real book, a handwritten letter, using a pen to take notes in a notepad…
At a recent meeting, I took out my tiny notepad to take notes while my companion whipped out his shiny iPad. I could almost picture him thinking, "She takes notes with a pen???"
I am tired of characters glowing on an electronic screen. I see P (and countless others), eyes glued to the stupid phone screen, clearly eschewing the vibrant human being before him (me, that is). I see attention wavering, eyes shifting, deteriorating listening skills, poor attentiveness.
I don't want to be clued into the world all the time. Sometimes we are better off without each other's company. And I like tactile sensations far more than electronic impulses.
Maybe all this makes me seem like a Luddite? Not really. I am just another person who's tired of gadgetry.
