Returning to analog and putting digital in its place

I would argue that while there's nothing wrong with digital and I still do plenty of things digitally, there's something to be said for the analog as well. Digital still doesn't offer a few things that can be valuable: in-person social interaction (pretty much by definition), flexibility (I can write literally anything on a piece of paper, it doesn't have to conform to any particular structure or require I load a drawing app to make a diagram, etc), and having a physical artifact of your efforts.

I used to make a bunch of attempts at keeping journals digital only in the past, and in the past year I started keeping a physical design diary where I recorded all my game design ideas. It's hard work keeping up with it, but seeing the result of those efforts is very much worth it to me. Then in addition to that I spend a little extra time digitizing it (basically when my brain is mush and I don't want to think about things), so I have both the artifact and a digital copy of it for reference on the go.

I have a gazillion files on my hard drive, and all those things can easily get buried into archives or deep nests of folders and become 'out of sight, out of mind' for me. But I can pick up the diary, browse through it, go "Oh yeah, that thing! I should think about that some more", and if I happen to die, I bet most of my digital files will be completely overlooked, whereas people will see the design diaries and potentially do something with them.

It is a lot more work to write everything physically though. I seem to be perpetually a month behind on recording in it nowadays.

Secondly, I used to work in video games, and I really got tired of everything I worked on eventually being unable to be enjoyed by friends because it was trapped on an old platform, or the company no longer supported it, it disappeared from an app store (sometimes after only two years), the format stops being supported (in the case of my old Flash games), etc.

Meanwhile, most of my board game designs are all cards, tokens, etc that are completely self-contained, don't require system or platform upgrades, and can easily survive 50 years or more (I know, because I own board games still in excellent condition that are that old).

> Then in addition to that I spend a little extra time digitizing it (basically when my brain is mush and I don't want to think about things), so I have both the artifact and a digital copy of it for reference on the go.

That's why I use LiveScribe, it handles that step automatically.

It's not an either or...

Socrates went into a similar rant on the written word in general.

> [Writing] will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.

> Vinyl records, board games, paper notebooks, brick-and-mortar bookstores

All of which are less accessible to people with disabilities than their digital counterparts (at least when the digital counterparts are done right). For the latter three, I'm thinking in particular of blind people (and people with severely limited vision like me). True, a lot of computer and mobile games are not accessible to us, but some are.

All of these tools are also inaccessible to people with mobility impairments. For example, in his book _Hit Refresh_, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella writes about how some high school students helped his oldest son, who has severe cerebral palsy, more easily enjoy a wide range of music, by developing a Windows app that uses a sensor in the wheelchair. That would have been impractical with vinyl records.

> Using analog tools in teaching

This is where the author's preference for analog may inadvertently exclude some students that are there in the room. True, putting something up on a screen doesn't automatically make it accessible. But at least there are possibilities, without requiring someone to transcribe. For example, when a teacher has prepared a slide deck in advance, they can make it available to a blind student by email before the class period, and the student can then review it with a screen reader. Accessibility for content being shown on a screen in real time is still a largely unsolved problem, but a solution is feasible.

Having said all that, I certainly agree that we need to moderate our content consumption for our mental and social well-being, and moderate screen time for a good night's sleep if nothing else. I spend a lot of time in front of a screen, though I can only read it up close and use a screen reader most of the time for web browsing. I think I'll start spending some time away from the screen before I go to bed. Yes, I'll be listening to music in digital format, but as far as I know, the ear can't really tell the difference.

> but spare me the moralizing

I doesn't have to be a moral argument. Some people think its simply a waste of time to stare at a screen while browsing facebook. and you get more out of life by being bored and finding something else to do thats more fulfilling.