Are you analogue?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Following a recent conversation with Dee where my character traits (flaws) were explained to me, I've concluded that I'm an analogue person in a digital world ...

If I need to dig a hole, I'll reach for a spade rather than get someone with a machine.

Cut a piece of wood? Handsaw rather than electric.

Pick bits up off the floor? Brush rather than vacuum.

Find my way somewhere, map rather that satnav.

Can you see what I'm getting at? I'll hazard a guess and say that Reg would likely class himself as similar but anyone else? BTW, I feel it's actually quite positive and should prove to be a real bonus come the zombie apocalypse

[fatbikephil]

No. I'm either a 1 or a zero

[josh]

Given my age (32) and my job (web development) I would say I am unusually ‘analogue’.

He says, typing this on his phone and wearing a smartwatch.

I think peak analogue/manual was intentionally buying a second hand push mower and having to take it apart and sharpen the blade, instead of an electric one.

For a web developer I’m quite a luddite.

[ton]

i think my friends would describe me as 'pre analogue' possibly.
some would say neanderthal......... ;o)

[whitestone]

If I need to dig a hole,

Carry on talking

Cut a piece of wood?

Axe

Pick bits up off the floor?

Does not compute...

Find my way somewhere

Follow my nose.

The correct answer is of course - the right tool for the job.

[psling]

I have heard the term 'analogue' used recently referring to bicycles.
There are analogue bikes and there are e-bikes. Apparently...

Me, I will use technology to make a job easier but come unstuck if that technology is too technical (complicated!) for my brain. So yes, maps over sat nav, vinyl over download, etc. but... if I need to dig a BIG hole I'm more than happy to jump in a JCB - as long as it's not a modern computer controlled one

So, I guess I'm not digital but I'm not totally analogue. Probably just anal...

[GregMay]

Utterly depends on what I'm doing :)

[macinblack]

You can take the miner out of the mine but you can't take the mine out of the miner.
Lump-hammer and adjustable spanner to fix 90% of anything. Sledgehammer for everything else.

[slarge]

I can imagine that conversation. I also get my character traits explained to me (not by Dee though)!

I'm analogue, but I do use power tools and stuff to make life easier, especially for lengthy tasks.
And I'm lusting after a car that doesn't guess what I want and irritate the crap out of me!!

[Dave Barter]

Nope. Twentieth century boy me

[Bearbonesnorm]

And I'm lusting after a car that doesn't guess what I want and irritate the crap out of me!!

I'd like a car with wind up windows, a carb, points and nothing electrical other than a radio ... that isn't some old pile of crap.

[MuddyPete]

Given my age (32) and my job (web development) I would say I am unusually ‘analogue’.

He says, typing this on his phone and wearing a smartwatch.

I think peak analogue/manual was intentionally buying a second hand push mower and having to take it apart and sharpen the blade, instead of an electric one.

For a web developer I’m quite a luddite.

Oh dear! Reg's career was in computers...slippery slope, Josh...slippery slope

[psling]

Nope. Twentieth century boy me

I have a road ride planned for tomorrow (or maybe Friday looking at the weather forecast!) on the Somerset Levels / Cheddar Gorge. Found it in a book, written directions, no gpx stuff. Guess who wrote the book....

[Dave Barter]

Nope. Twentieth century boy me

I have a road ride planned for tomorrow (or maybe Friday looking at the weather forecast!) on the Somerset Levels / Cheddar Gorge. Found it in a book, written directions, no gpx stuff. Guess who wrote the book....

In Scotland in the rain trying to finish another one.

There’s a dodgy road at the beginning of the Cheddar ride that may be a tad wet. It’s a great route!

[Mariner]

Yes/no maybe sometimes.

[faustus]

Fairly pragmatic about it really, more about economy of effort or what I feel comfortable with. Analogue default a lot of the time, like a push mower for the small lawn. Axe and saw wood, small handheld hoover for clearing up the post breakfast carnage when kids insist on eating DRY Weetabix! Analogue watch forever (solar, with hands!).

I hate tech for tech sake, like electric mini pumps for bikes, and the insane things in some modern cars, like going through iPad menus to turn the heater up. There's a lot of sh1te like that I ignore. I wouldn't want to go back to carburettors though, Christ! (Though I had 2 nissan bluebirds with automatic chokes that were unfailingly superb).

I am making sure the kids learn to do things manually rather than default to electric, including looking in books rather than Google, and heavily limiting screen time. But I'm not a luddite martyr either.

[RIP]

Ooh, interesting one! On the face of it (metaphorically, although the faces of our clocks are indeed analog[ue], including a 250 year old one), yes, Reg is BB's Fred Dibnah. Actually for many reasons Stu is a much better example as Fred. Maybe I'm Fred's mate Alf then.

Need much more time to think this through but I lean towards things that give me pleasure and maximum sensory input - what a hedonist eh? I'm the opposite of Spinal Tap, rather than my amp/speakers turned up to 11, I like my microphone turned up to 11. Not quite the right analogy (analogueology?) but it'll do.

So, I'm very interested in new stuff and how stuff works, but certainly with tools/equipment/experiences I'll choose what tickles all five (six?) senses rather than just one or two (or none), and is probably 'simple' or at least not over-functioned, and that often means 'analogue':

Map (usually out of date ) over GPS etc.
Book over Kindle.
Vinyl over Stream.
Cooker over microwave.
Handsaw over electric saw.
'Real fire' (or jumper!) over underfloor heating.
Bike over e-ebike.
Brain over computer.
etc

Sometimes my choices are the possibly less 'eco' ones, so a guilt trip there, but often more so.

It raises the question of what is analogue and what is digital? We seem to be equating analogue/digital with simple/technological (and this is time-based anyway; wheels and axes were cutting-edge (axe,geddit?) technology once). Sine wave, square wave? At the quantum level - wave or particle? Or both? Maybe it's like fractals, no lines are 'straight'? Everything is analogue?

I'm on dangerous ground as MuddyPete says: earned my crust dabbling in IT for a while. Even during my degree I got, apparently unprecedently, full marks for the Turing Machines part of one module - what a weirdo. However I'm very proud to say I never once used a spreadshite in all those years .

Anyway, enough of all that. I reckon the trait answer can be easily and quickly determined using this question: do you own a pencil sharpener?

Next new thread should be " do you like 'choice' "?

PS. 20th century Dave? What about the past 23 years? .

[RIP]

So, I guess I'm not digital but I'm not totally analogue. Probably just anal...

And Josh is right of course, here we all are typing these ravings on smartphones or laptops or whatever. But not by choice. I'd much rather be doing it in the pub.

[whitestone]

You got me searching (digitally I'm afraid) for the maker of the tall clock in our living room, there's no date that I can see on the clock face. One George Bownes(s) of Lancaster. Seems he was working in the 1870s so ours is around 150yrs old.

I think there's quite a few of us on here that grew up before what are now seen as commonplace tools and devices either existed or indeed, were "common" and have lived through the transition. Sometimes it's looking back through rose tinted glasses but equally the newer ways of doing things are genuinely better, sometimes.

When my dad died we noted that, as a farmer, he had lived through seismic changes in that when he started nearly everything was horse-drawn with just a few steam engine driven machines usually owned by contractors. By the time he died computerisation was well underway and had been for at least two decades. I remember doing a lot of jobs "the old way" or maybe better described as "a mixed way" as much of the equipment on the farm was from the horse-drawn era but worked equally well behind a tractor.

The wall that I'm currently rebuilding (if this ***** weather ever gives up!) is an example: my brother rived out the old wall using a mini-digger. He took a morning to do what would have taken me about two weeks to do by hand. However... the machine is *too* strong, if the bucket catches an embedded stone it just pulls it out leaving a hole whereas by hand I can work around it and be a bit more delicate. Also the machine tends to leave a layer of partially disturbed soil that needs cleaning out anyway so that there's a solid footing.

[Boab]

I'm in a quantum superposition, both analogue and digital. Some digital things are just better and more convenient, but also have no soul. Analogue on the other hand, fragile, wear out, can be a complete pain in the arse, but I wouldn't swap for the digital equivalent.

[In Reverse]

If I need to dig a hole, I'll reach for a spade rather than get someone with a machine.

I have it on good authority that the poster "Wotsits" prefers to use someone with a machine for his hole.

[darbeze]

I like the question...

When I started work at my first real job as a graphic artist back in the mid 80's, we used pens, ink, pencils, parallel motions, set squares etc... If we needed to create words, we used Letraset for the simple stuff and a photographic typesetter (each typeface was on a physical disk and they shone light through to take pictures to produce typesetting). All very analogue...

I remember clearly a very keen salesman showing us an Apple computer that he swore would revolutionise the industry. Part of his demo was to "race" me to produce an artwork. I won and completely poo pooed him and his newfangled devilry...

Fast forward to now, and I must say that having worked through the digital revolution in the printing industry, I ended up embracing the technology and have used it for years. Especially the last 25 years as I moved into IT tech support.

Having said that, I am now in my mid fifties and have had enough of computers and am on the brink of turning my back on it and baking more sourdough bread and maybe even moving into classic car restoration. Both very much a hands on "analogue" activity. I am also on the look out for a Series III Land Rover to embrace a more simple way of motoring (simple means sh1t and unreliable, but with soul)...

To answer the original question? My favourite watch is an automatic analogue piece. The simplicity and non-reliance on batteries or sunlight appeal to me greatly.

And let's not forget, we all love riding bikes around these parts. What could be more analogue...?

Si

[MarkW]

You could say it's about simplicity, less complexity. More reliable, less to go wrong.

A spade is less hassle than ringing round getting quotes, arranging access, timing etc
A handsaw makes less mess than than an electric one, and doesn't require an extension lead
a brush is easier to put away than a vac with a hose and cable
a map doesn't need to boot up and be programmed with a destination and mode of transport

They are all less noisy!
They are also all cheaper

[jameso]

Relatively yes, but though I think not shying away from some work/effort is a good thing, working efficiently is also good.

Certainly when it comes to riding I'm fairly low tech. I've never used Strava or anything like that but I love mapping and route creation maps on the laptop. I like my GPS bit it doesn't track or synch anything, it's just a drag+drop system. The only electronics on the bike are the dynamo and GPS. I like having a map on the bars, gos backing it up is ideal.
Electronic gears and e-bikes, not for me personally. No bike is 100% reliable but I don't have enough confidence in those systems or enough appreciation of what they are Vs a simple trad bike.
Indoor training (when it happens, rarely) is a HRM and a dumb trainer, no interest in pedal-powered computer games. No criticism of those who do use them, it just doesn't engage me.
Morning coffee is a Bialetti mocha pot not something that needs plugging in or too much faff generally.
I like quality products that are taken back to the basics, with the basics done well. Perfection comes from removing complexity, etc. Minimum viable bike rather than all the bells and whistles and buttons. I'm probably a bit out of synch with the modern bike industry in some ways, flip side is not being one to jump on every new thing as if it's the best thing since SIS.

[whitestone]

Perfection comes from removing complexity, etc.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Going *slightly* off-tangent - the recommended service interval of many suspension forks and shocks wouldn't get you round the HT550, completely ridiculous.