Returning to analog and putting digital in its place • Hacker News Board

Re: Returning to analog and putting digital in its place

#41

Post by cr0sh » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 8:07 PM UTC

otakucode wrote: post #21

Does the author have children... or pets? Because it doesn't sound like he acknowledges his children as people at all. Perhaps the reason the children resort to screens is because it's the only way he's made possible for them to have any degree of autonomy or independence? He makes it clear that he walks around the neighborhood WITH them, he goes to visit their friends from school WITH them, etc. The reason many kids…

> The 8 year old might still need some hand-holding, but the 11 and 13 year old

I grew up in the 1980s - so I know this might not translate, but...

...when I was 8, my parents allowed me to do all kinds of things "by myself"; ride my bike around the block, go down to the corner Circle K for a candybar, play with friends next door, etc.

...when I was 11, I'd ride my bike much further away, and my friends and I would shoot bb guns at birds (horror!), explore farmer's fields, and more.

...when I was 13, I'd ride my bike with friends, and we'd complete multi-mile circuits around our small city, heading out to "far off places" and exploring (and falling, and getting back up).

I dunno...to me, it sounds like parents don't let their kids do these things anymore? Granted, I lived in a small city at the time (bigger today, and where I grew up is much less rural than it was back then), so maybe in a more urban context it might or might not be as safe (if nothing else than dangers from more automobile traffic).

I can't really say one way or the other which is better, but those experiences shaped me in a certain way; it's disheartening to think that kids in general don't get to experience that any longer (or as much)?

Re: Returning to analog and putting digital in its place

#42

Post by mikestew » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 8:11 PM UTC

thriftwy wrote: post #12

cableshaft wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's still plenty of really excellent tv and games out there, there's just also a lot more crap too.

It seems that I am unable to navigate the offerings. There used to be forums, there used to be communities, there used to be journals if it comes to that. Now it's nothing of that. It's awful tops from Google Play and even awfuler advertising. I don't understand how one searches for something of value. With TV it's easier because there's at least IMDB.

It seems that I am unable to navigate the offerings.

I don't navigate them at all. I hear about shows from coworkers, or occasionally trip across something right here on HN. As a recent example, I present The Orville. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15333242) I mean, I'd heard of it, but it didn't sound like it was for me. As the thread shows, I was wrong. Now my wife and I are hooked. Or sometimes a show will just get mentioned in passing here, I'll look it up, watch an episode to find out if we'll like it. Once in a great while Netflix or iTunes will come up with something "you might like, mikestew!" that's worth watching. Not very often, though.

That's it, we just watch what I've tripped across serendipitously. And we can't keep up (just now getting to the third season of 12 Monkeys). Granted, our viewing habits might not match most (if there's nothing on, then we do something else). But if we want to sit down and watch something, we rarely lack for something of quality.

Contrast that with the "25 years ago" you use as a comparison. My memory of TV in the 90s was using the TV set to watch movies and ST:NG. I don't think we watched much, if any, actual TV shows because I recall that there was nothing worth watching except ST:NG.

Games are the same for me, whatever my circle mentions, and whatever Bethesda has put out recently. That might or might not work for others, especially if you don't like RPGs like Bethesda puts out. I've tried paying attention to IGN and the like, but, yeah...

That's not to argue that it isn't a crapfest out there. It's partially why I quit paying attention. Let's take Modern Family as an example. Seems to get rave reviews, it's been on for a while. Hmm, might be decent. I didn't even know that shows still did laugh tracks. And the jokes were recycled versions of what was on TV 40 years ago in the 70s. Drop an episode in a time machine to 1978, and the only difference viewers would notice are those strange glass hand-held devices the characters keep staring at, and wow, their microwave sure is small.

Re: Returning to analog and putting digital in its place

#43

Post by thriftwy » Fri, Oct 27, 2017, 2:10 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #42

thriftwy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems that I am unable to navigate the offerings. There used to be forums, there used to be communities, there used to be journals if it comes to that. Now it's nothing of that. It's awful tops from Google Play and even awfuler advertising. I don't understand how one searches for something of value. With TV it's easier because there's at least IMDB.

It seems that I am unable to navigate the offerings. I don't navigate them at all. I hear about shows from coworkers, or occasionally trip across something right here on HN. As a recent example, I present The Orville . ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15333242 ) I mean, I'd heard of it, but it didn't sound like it was for me. As the thread shows, I was wrong. Now my wife and I are hooked. Or sometimes a show wi…

With shows it's easier. With apps it's harder because it's now what usually gets discussed and tastes vary a great deal.

Re: Returning to analog and putting digital in its place

#44

Post by cableshaft » Tue, Oct 31, 2017, 3:56 PM UTC

reificator wrote: post #13

cableshaft wrote: post #11

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 dra…

> 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...

So it detects your handwriting pretty well? I don't have any experience with smartpens.