Maybe it's an overdose of technology and gadgets (and sometimes too many things going wrong all at the same time) but recently I've had a hankering to going back to the real thing rather than having everything digital.
When my husband asked for a new record player (or whatever they're called these days) for Christmas I was thrilled because it meant we could drag out all our old vinyl and play them. Funny...these songs are all available on Spotify or Pandora but holding the actual record had tons of memories flowing back much more than the digital version ever did. And we'd forgotten about the pesky details of having to get up from the chair and turn the record over when it's finished. But there's no better sound than the needle in the groove. Our boys were entranced by the whole thing and declared the sound was much better 'old school'.
 |
| You can't beat a bit of David Bowie |
I've also gone back to a journal for planning and brainstorming rather than just an online calendar and an open word document. As a family we share an ical file so I still need to know who's doing what and where, but now I print off a calendar every week, stick it in my journal and go from there. My to-do list is handwritten- that seems to fix things in my brain more than my excel lists.
We've started playing board games again too. Even the kids enjoy a game of Cluedo or Pandemic and we've introduced many a friend to Exploding Kittens after dinner rather than slumping in front of the TV (which I still do far too often).
Then there's the ebook-paperbook conundrum....
And what to do with the hundreds of redundant CDs and DVDs and VHS videos...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Luddite--I embrace technology that makes my life easier...but sometimes I like to have a real product in my hands rather than the idea of one on a device.
What about you? Are you 'old school'? Have you bought into the new vinyl fashion? Any good new records to recommend?
LOL Louisa, having seen you active with your phone! But yes, totally agree about the record player. Vinyl is back apparently, and you can't beat it. I still much prefer holding a book than a tablet but those books take up so much space. I've always used pen and paper for my lists because the act of writing something down seems to stick in my brain and the list becomes redundant.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Vinyl is back, but so expensive!!! I still love it, though. Yep, like you the writing down thing makes things stick in my brain.
DeleteOh Louisa
ReplyDeleteI still have my vinyl collection stored away in a cupboard and we still have a record player maybe I should bring them out again and fire up the record player and I do have a few David Bowie ones in that cupboard along with a lot of Rod Stewart :)
I too love paper books but space is a problem these days and I do love my kindle :)
Have Fun
Helen
Wow, you have your vinyl AND record player!! Amazing. Yes, you should definitely get them out...probably worth quite a bit now too. Love David Bowie and a lot of Rod Stewart!! Kindle v paper...jury's still out for me.
DeleteLove that your and Mr G's boys prefer the vinyl sound. There's just something about records that make them awesome to listen too, probably the fact that we are given so much super polished music these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm a mix of modern with a desire to embrace the old school.
So far as the books, while I prefer print books, it's a financial decision that triggered the change for me. I've said it before in many places that before Book Depository was started I got sick of paying the same or more than the price of the book to get what I wanted to read. My local libraries at the time were not great for romance titles and as is often still the case, the main bookstores primarily stock the well known names like Nora Roberts or Mills and Boon. Definitely nothing wrong with Harlequin/M&B titles but as my reading expanded past category it got frustrating. I've continued with ebooks due to the combination of convenience (both the instant gratification when buying and the ease of carrying lots and lots of books) and the fact that I've found there are definitely cheaper prices on quite a few books as ebooks. My biggest gripe with ebooks is the fact that publishers still insist on territorial restrictions despite it failing for the entertainment industry. While Amazon and Kobo seem to have helped convince the publishers to actually have titles available globally, there are many times that I prefer North American titles (many of the UK/Commonwealth versions are more reserved in comparison). It doesn't happen often but sometimes the NZ price is set crazy too. I know of a Jill Shalvis ebook only title that is USD 99c, but at last check on Kobo is $7.99 - even with exchange rate and taxes that is an absurd mark up.
My strategy was originally going to be to buy the books that I have in paperback as ebooks as well as growing my ebook collection. I discovered that was cutting into my book budget though, so these days the strategy is if it is a favourite is on promo for a free or cheap price, I will pick up the ebook too. There are a few exceptions to this such as buying Sandra Hyatt's books (especially my autographed one) in ebook so I don't make the paperbacks fall apart from re-reads.
Oops a wee bit of a essay/chapter
Hi Lyn, Thanks for replying! I think I'm a mix too. I absolutely agree with you about the publisher's geographical restrictions- I don't know why they do it? Is it because of something to do with our laws here in NZ? Or are we such a small market they don't think of us? It frustrates me!! I have some books on both kindle and in print too- my absolute favourites that I sometimes want to delve into again, say on holiday, but don't want to lug around in a bag and want to preserve the hardcopy.
DeleteI think it's more of a hang over from pre-digital days where it wasn't as obvious that the North American books had access to different covers/titles.
DeleteFrom what I've observed it's usually a case of grouping as US and Canada (aka North America) and then essentially almost all the Commonwealth countries. It has improved since I started with ebooks 8 years ago but does still do my head in sometimes.
Great post, Louisa. I think our families would get on brilliantly. We can play boardgames all weekend. Fancy a couple of rounds of Settlers of Catan??
ReplyDeleteGreat post Louisa! My twenty-something daughter is in love with vinyl. She goes to vinyl sales. Some of her favourite artists are releasing in both vinyl and digital--so it isn't just about old vinyl. That said, when a friend was moving house and ditching her vinyl collection my daughter was onto it and gladly relieved her of her collection! I buy novels mainly as e-books these days for speed, convenience and usually a better price.
ReplyDeleteWe love boardgames in our house! It's such a fun thing to do when you have friends over, so long as it doesn't get too competitive ;)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my vinyl collection, Louisa, and as I make sure I always have a working turntable it does get an airing on a regular basis. ;-) I saw a poster on FB the other day that said something along the lines of, It's not that the music sounds better, but that the music back then was better. LOL.
ReplyDeleteAs for books, I'll take them any way they come -- print or digital. But I much rather write with pen and paper than a keyboard. So...I guess I'm an old fashioned girl at heart. :-)