In praise of anachronistic technology

The world is a much-changed place since I was born. While that hasn’t always been for the better, there are technologies that I have embraced enthusiastically and wouldn’t want to retreat from:

Word processing on computer: I learned touch typing on a typewriter. My parents gave me a portable manual typewriter as a high school graduation present. I used it all through college and made a little pocket change typing up assignments for friends. As I was finishing my PhD, my mentor got an Apple II, and I learned word processing with WordStar. Flash forward, and I write everything except grocery lists and checks using my laptop. I compose directly at the keyboard, without the intermediation of stylus and paper.  I would hate to go back to typewriters and paper.

Calculators: I learned the basics of the slide rule in high school, but midway through my freshman year in college, cheap hand-held calculators appeared. I did my regressions for my dissertation on a hand-held calculator I bought for that purpose, since I couldn’t figure out how to use the statistical package on the university mainframe. Now all these functions are available for free on the internet.

Google: In college, I worked weekends at the graduate library. I learned the Library of Congress system and how to use a card catalog. With the advent of search engines and digital books and journals, I can find whatever I need using Google, PubMed or interlibrary loan. I read most periodicals online (exceptions are The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, which I still get in the mail on dead tree).

E-readers: I grew up in the age of books. When we moved from St. Louis, I had hundreds of books to dispose of. I took five large boxes of hardcover books to the used bookstore and got $35 for the whole set. Whenever possible, I read books on my Samsung ereader. I can buy books on Amazon and download them instantly. The books are cheaper. I can carry a whole library of books in one hand. I can read a 1000-page book while lying on my back. When I re-open the book, I resume reading where I left off with no need for bookmarks.

Digital cameras: I learned basic film photography in high school. For the first ten years of my faculty career, I did all my own black-and-white film photography and darkroom work for printing and for slides. I got my first digital SLR camera over 20 years ago. I can see the shots instantly and do all post-processing on my laptop. I can send pictures electronically, and store thousands of images without (a) needing dozens of boxes, (b) a slide projector and screen and (c) a way to label and store all the images.

Online music streaming: NO.

I grew up with vinyl and tapes (reel-to-reel, cassettes and 8-tracks). In graduate school, I acquired a Victrola and a few dozen 45s. When CDs appeared, I was hooked. Although I have over 500 LPs and the turntable to play them on, for most of the albums I’m interested in I’ve bought the CD format. I have a five-position CD player, which means I can listen to ca. five hours of music without changing the media.

Shortly before she moved from Boston, my sister gave me three large plastic tubs filled with CDs. I have over 500 CDs now, and I’m still buying more. I don’t have to pay monthly fees for streaming, I just go to my Ikea CD shelves and pick the ones I want to hear. Unlike vinyl, they don’t wear out with playing and there are no skips or pops.

Call me a Luddite, but I’m sticking with CDs.

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