What Exactly Is: Analog?

“Not Digital.” 

Party #1: Vinyl records. Tube amplifiers. Newspapers. Film cameras. Notebooks. Typewriters. An early Moog synthesizer. A clock with hands.

What do these things have in common? They are all analog media.

Party #2: Smartphones. Computers. Smartwatches. A Yamaha DX7 electronic piano. A clock with numbers INSTEAD of hands.

These, on the other hand, are digital media.

But what about Party #3? Dumbphones. iPods, calculators, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray players, e-readers, compact digital cameras, e-ink typewriters?

These might occupy a different place from either pure analog or pure digital (even if some of them, like iPods and CDs, technically ARE pure digital.) But we’ll get to those later.

For now, what is analog?

There are two meanings, really. The first is technical. The second is metaphorical.

We’ll get the technical skinny from Dave Hirsch. Hirsch, from Dave’s Sound Repair in Whippany, has spent decades taking analog (and digital) musical instruments apart and putting them back together. 

When it comes to sound at least, analog refers to a “continuous voltage representing the sound.” With analog media, there is an actual, physical representation, or ANALOG (as a noun), of the sound itself, whether as grooves in a record or magnetic particles on a tape.

Whereas digital sound is “made up of pieces of data with tiny steps between them that your brain has to smooth out.” The more pieces and the shorter the steps, the higher the fidelity. Like the resolution on your computer screen. The more pixels, the higher the resolution.

Unlike analog sound with its continuous voltage, digital sound is NOT continuous. But “digital sound sampled at a higher and higher rate approaches analog” in sound quality.

At least, in theory. But the question is, can it ever match it? 

“There are people that swear they can hear the difference,” Hirsch asserts. These rare souls “can discern that analog is smoother and less affected [by the digital process]. There’s a certain warmth associated with it.”

But there are also people who like digital sound—CDs over records, for example—because the audio is cleaner, with less hum, LESS of that “warmth” associated with analog.

Similarly, although analog equipment such as tube-driven amplifiers have their adherents, digital equipment tends to be lighter, less finicky, and simpler to use.

Wait, so WHAT is analog again?

In short, analog means that there exists a solid, real, material representation of the sound or sight that is being reproduced.

So a vinyl record is a reproduction of the sounds recorded on it, and those sounds are ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY imprinted into the actual record. 

Or a photograph is a reproduction of whatever is being seen by the photographer, and those sights are ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY imprinted and captured on a piece of analog film.

Whereas digital sound or photography involves turning the recorded information into 1s and 0s, which come as close to approximating an analog representation as its resolution will allow.

So Why Is Analog Coming Back?

The sale of new vinyl records, and physical music media in general which includes CDs and tapes, is at its highest point in decades and growing yearly (a trend which, interestingly, does not apply to new physical movie media. At least, not yet.)

Similar increases are happening in the world of film photography.

But it’s not just recorded media. It’s other analogs as well, like books, notebooks, and even typewriters. Why?

Take notebooks for example. Do one internet search for “notebook” and you’ll soon be bombarded with ads for Moleskine, Lochby, Rocketbook, Remarkable 2, Boogie Board....

All of these notebooks or note-taking tools are hot on the algorithm. Why? Let’s ask Bryan Bedell from Field Notes, a notebook company based in Chicago. 

“Have people ever not taken notes?” Bedell says. True, but why the growth in analogs in general?

He attributes it, in part, to the fatigue and anxiety associated with reliance on digital devices for everyday tasks. “Many people find [that] it’s more fulfilling and pleasant to have a series of daily manual interactions with simple tools [like a notebook] than to have your whole personal, professional, and creative life crammed into a single device.”

And here’s the truth if I’ve ever heard it: “People are starting to realize that consumer products and technology have never made anyone a better writer or a better person, they're all just tools, and basic tools are all you need.”

But isn’t using just one device more convenient and practical? Bryan Bedell indicates: even that’s up for debate.

“There’s no need to bring batteries, cables, firmware updates, monthly fees, carrier signals, feature fatigue, notifications, pop-up ads, planned obsolescence and customer support into the simple action of writing a note.”

So, ironically, it’s about simplicity, fulfillment, and freedom from the trappings of the digital age.

Add to that, as Dave Hirsch points out, “people like owning something with a cover” that they can hold in their hands. 

Without a doubt, the tactile element—whether it’s the feel of a book in your hand, the scratch of pen against paper, the ritual of pulling a record from the shelf, extricating that large black disc and placing it carefully on its spindle—remains one of analog’s foremost advantages and appeals.

Analog as Metaphor

So what about Party #3 I mentioned above? Dumbphones, iPods, calculators, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray players, e-readers, compact digital cameras, e-ink typewriters, and the like? These sometimes get bunched in with an “analog lifestyle,” even though....well, digital cameras: it says “DIGITAL” right there!

Technically, these are all digital tools. There is a computer inside each one, from your TI-88 graphing calculator to your Nokia 2780 flip-phone, that allows it to access and process information at exponentially higher speeds than an analog tool.

Compare the calculator to one of its analog counterparts: the abacus. Pretty big difference.

And yet, for some people, the act of “going analog” sometimes involves these devices replacing that one piece of tech that now does everything they once did: 

The Smartphone

Yes, the smartphone.

The metaphor built into the enjoyment of these objects is tied to “simpler times,” when we didn’t all have huge swiss army knives of electronic functions in our pockets, when actions had to be a little more intentional, and if you wanted to take pictures, you needed to bring a camera with you.

And you brought it because you believed the EXPERIENCE might be worth saving.

It’s this intentionality and simplicity that we tie to objects like iPods, which are undoubtedly digital wonders of the modern era.

But, some might say, what’s the difference?

The difference is that the iPod does JUST ONE THING, and it does it exceptionally well.

The point-and-shoot camera does JUST ONE THING, and while its image quality is a far cry from the iPhone 17, the quality is not the point; it’s the enjoyment, the simplicity, the pleasure of CHOOSING, consciously, to carry that camera with you, to pull it out in the midst of a moment worthy of preservation, to set up the shot, and to push the shutter button. There is no front-facing camera; it’s not made for selfies.

There is no compulsion to document every second of your life just because you can, in brilliant 4k or even 8k.

Rather, it is the moment itself which is valuable, the experience, which warrants being preserved.

Herein lies one of the key differences between digital life and The Analog Life: it’s not about immaculate, perfect, 4k quality of the media itself. Nor is it about capturing every moment so that you can upload it to your social media feeds.

Instead, it’s about experiencing the moment itself, and the technology or media becomes PART of that moment, or even ENHANCES it, but does not define it. Like Field Notes says, “I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.” It’s about experiencing life first and media second. It’s about having fun and viewing each piece of technology—the iPod, the point-and-shoot, and so on—as a means to an end, not an end unto itself.

Simpler Times

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the nostalgia factor.

There is an entire generation of smartphone users who feel “nostalgic for a time they’ve never known.” 

This “time,” as they see it, was a time of less anxiety, more clarity, more gritty and visceral and tactile experiences involving watching the VCR swallow that VHS cassette as it’s about to play, CD jewel cases that squeak when you open them, practical special effects in movies instead of CGI, and a phone in your pocket that connects you with others, directly, privately, meaningfully, as you all decide what to do after school.

That’s all to say nothing of those of us who were actually alive in the early 00s or the 90s or the 80s or the 70s, who remember not only these “digital-analogs” (a term I just made up), but even their analog-analog forebears, like movies on film, records, landlines, reel-to-reels, and the like.

And with each new pronouncement—made with great conviction—that one old-fashioned medium like records or film is “dead” comes the revelation that LP sales have never been better, that Christopher Nolan’s next movie will be shot on 70mm FILM, and that video stores are reopening in the midwest.

And slowly but surely, new technologies come along that claim to solve problems we never knew existed, that will CERTAINLY, DEFINITELY, FOR-REALSIES make everything that preceded them obsolete.

I asked Bryan Bedell at Field Notes what people are talking about right now. What are the trends? What are Gen-Z most interested in?

“We really don’t follow the industry, or monitor our competitors at all,” he explains, but “the ‘trend’ everyone is talking about is A.I. Obviously we won’t be jumping on that anytime soon…”

And it’s not just analog product companies who aren’t interested in A.I. It’s many consumers as well. 

A survey conducted by CNET this past September revealed that only 11% of respondents listed A.I. features as the main factor that motivates them to upgrade their smartphone. That’s 7% LESS than last year.

Maybe one of the aspects of analog that we like so much is that, unlike computers and smartphones and all technology in general, they basically stay the same. They are constants in our lives.

Take something like a newspaper, a painting, or a violin. Of course, you can try to improve on them: a digital subscription perhaps; Adobe Premiere; or an A.I. violin solo generated by some program with a funny name.

But with that news subscription comes apps that need updates; in Adobe, features and subscription costs change overnight; and with that A.I. solo, who knows where it came from, or whose genuine musical efforts it was trained on without compensation? And do you now actually own it, or the AI company? All of that is in constant flux with anything so new and fluid.

On top of that, for any of these functions, if your computer or smartphone is too old, performance suffers.

A newspaper does not get old. A film camera doesn’t run low on RAM. A record player is never buffering due to throttled internet speeds.

Is that partly why these technologies never go obsolete, like the horse-and-buggie or vaudeville theater did?

I asked Edward Obermueller—a teacher of both violin and painting—if there was ever a time when he thought digital tools and A.I. might make analog art and music obsolete.

“No, I’ve never thought that. But I’m an analog musician (laughs). The same energies that create harmonies and music that naturally exist in this reality also created us. They’re never going to go away. The day that a robot walks up to me and plays a violin in front of me, I might change my mind.”

He continues with an ironic air of disbelief, as though weighing the absurdity of the statement with an acknowledgement that, hey, anything is possible: 

“It’s like asking if breathing will ever become obsolete. If that ever happens, we’ve essentially left reality as we know it.”

That’s when I started telling him about my startup idea: Lung-A.I. It monitors your entire vascular system and takes in only as much oxygen as you need automatically through a vent on the back of your neck. “Then you never have to think about breathing ever again! Isn’t that great?!” I yelled.

That's when he asked me to leave his office.

The Meaning of Analog

So, in addition to creative authenticity, there’s simplicity. In addition to higher fidelity, there’s higher clarity. Life is the purpose; not the tools we use to live it.

And once a tool ceases to help us live, perhaps it is time to turn it off and revert to the media that reflects life instead of deflects from it, preserves it instead of dissolves it, adds to it instead of detracts from it. In short, the analogs of life itself.

Therein lies the epic and incalculable power of analogs, of crafts and skills like developing photographs, mixing paints, playing saxophones, making pottery or textiles or baskets or chairs. These cannot, of themselves, be sent at lightspeed. They cannot “go viral.” They cannot be mined to train AI or to scrape your personal information. They are not available to everyone on earth; only the select few who seek them out, and appreciate them.

And therein lies the manner in which these pursuits force you—just like listening to an album or watching a movie—to slow down, savor, share, and reflect.

Perhaps one of the oldest arts, but while the analog spirit survives, it will not be forgotten.