Obsolete technology

I'm just spending the early hours of the morning sorting the CD shelf and took outside with me the Snow Goose album from Camel, and I'm trying to decide when and why I bought it. The original LP was one of the first I bought with my own money and I still have it, so how did the CD came in my possession?

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It's probably because I ran and bought it during the 80-90's when CD were all the rage and the LP records where left with my parents. But it's been years since everything was digitized and kept on the JRiver Media Center server. I don't play CDs anymore - they are obsolete.

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But then so is the Yema Superman that I'm going to wear today. Its mechanical automatic movement is new, since Yema only released it a couple of years ago, but the design is from the 60's and the concept of a wristwatch is more than a century old. It's an obsolete technology and is now unnecessary for keeping time.

But I still use it and I can't even imagine myself going without a watch on my wrist, just like I can't even think of throwing away my LP records or CDs, despite having everything digitized at home or available through streaming services.

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Perhaps it's the need to have tactile feedback and feel that I'm holding something tangible in my hands. Or perhaps in the case of the Yema it's simply due to the fact that I can't resist it when it's paired to the grey MN strap from Erika's Originals.

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Digital everything is a nightmare scenario.

We place a lot of trust in technologies that can break catastrophically if the '0' is supposed to be a '1'.

Digital music can vanish with the provider of your storage solution. Digital time all synced from the 'One' can be manipulated.

Hard copies & off-grid options can be very beneficial in the right (wrong?) scenario.

This is why some people like the tactile & "obsolete".

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UnholiestJedi

Digital everything is a nightmare scenario.

We place a lot of trust in technologies that can break catastrophically if the '0' is supposed to be a '1'.

Digital music can vanish with the provider of your storage solution. Digital time all synced from the 'One' can be manipulated.

Hard copies & off-grid options can be very beneficial in the right (wrong?) scenario.

This is why some people like the tactile & "obsolete".

I don't have a problem with technology and I admit that I tend to be an early adopter, which is also why I'm more aware of its limitations and caveats than the average person. For example, although I fully converted my house to a smarthome, everything is managed locally.

Being a techead didn't stop me from loving retro, I still own a turntable, I wet shave with a double edge razor, I drive a manual gear car, I write with a fountain pen...and I also wear automatic and mechanical watches. Technology can be obsolete and still be useful, and fun.

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Beautiful - nice piece and nice pics.

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Gimme carburettors over fuel injection anyday, and the idea of an electric motorcycle is utterly appalling to me. 🤔

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I'm an analog dude in a digital world. I play guitars through tube amp, and analog overdrives, I use guitar pedals instead of effects on my computer, I listen to vinyl, I use analog synths and I really appreciate tactile feedback a lot.

Even when I'm working with a digital device - having some knobs to turn and buttons to press is needed experience. I guess when you play guitar for 15 years it feels strange to not use your hands to operate a musical instrument.

I work in tech and I got super tired of smartwatches and IoT devices. Specially after I worked in a IoT company. I've been writing firmware for professional networking equipment - routers, access points, switches and IP phones. I remember being super interested in new technology when I was a kid, basically that's how I got my passion for a software engineering and sound engineering, and even tho I love my jobs to death, I'd rather limit my encounters with a smart devices in my free time. Apple Watch just makes me over-connected. Sometimes I just want to sit, look at second hand ticking/sweeping and reflect in solitude without external stimuli, knowing that this device has only 2 features - tracking your finite time on Earth and looking great.

I'm not a Neo-luddite, I'm not against technology, I use ChatGPT on a daily basis to break down complex concepts, but 'obsolete' technology is just more fun, more charm and less hustle