Analog Isn’t The Past. Analog Is The Future.
Repairing yesterday. Easy fix. Even the birds thought it was cool, hey I know that wood?
There seems to be a pretty big trend happening with kids these days. Analog. Board games. Vinyl. Film cameras. Mechanical watches. Old cars. Things you can actually touch, break, fix and, apparently, explain to your parents. Which is interesting.
Our generation was blown away by digital. We couldn’t get enough of it. The next generation was born into it. They don’t remember a world without screens, apps, notifications and a little rectangle in their pocket that knows approximately everything about them. And now some of them are saying, “Yeah, but can we play a game with actual pieces?” Maybe that’s not a fad. Maybe it’s human nature finally pushing back. Because humans are still humans. We are social animals. We like other humans. We like physical things. We like sitting around a table. We like stuff that doesn’t ask us to accept cookies before we can use it.
And there is something interesting happening with old things. A beat-up original car can be worth more than a shiny restoration. An old piece of furniture can be worth more with 80 years of scratches on it than it is after somebody attacked it with sandpaper and polyurethane. The wear is part of the value. The current generation is beginning to understand something we forgot while chasing the newest, smartest, fastest version of everything:
No apps needed
New isn’t automatically better. And that brings me to boats. You know that $150,000 center console you just bought? The one with more computer chips than your first five computers? How do you think that’s going to age? Do you still have your computer from 20 years ago? Ten? Five? What happens when the magic box controlling your boat quits working and the company that made the magic box says, “Yeah, we don’t make that anymore”? Good luck. YouTube isn’t going to save you. There won’t be a 14-minute video titled: “How to Repair Your 2037 Proprietary Integrated Marine Command System Using Stuff From Home Depot.”
Escape to analog.
And that beautiful, paper-thin plastic hull? What happens when it starts looking tired? Botox? Retinol? A chemical peel? Apparently we’re going to have to put sunscreen on the boat. Now look at a 1930 Chris-Craft. Wood. Brass. Bronze. Steel. Screws. A little varnish. And a guy with a screwdriver who is willing to screw around with it until he figures it out. That’s the thing about analog.
An inch is still an inch
It doesn’t become obsolete. It becomes old. And old is different. Old can be repaired. Old can be understood. Old can be handed down. Old doesn’t need a password. It doesn’t need a subscription. It doesn’t need to connect to Wi-Fi to tell you that your boat is floating.
OH SHIP!
And here’s where I may be taking this a little too far. Let’s say AI takes over. The robots win. We’re screwed. You need to disappear. Your digital life is everywhere. Your phone knows where you are. Your car knows where you’ve been. Your refrigerator knows you’re out of milk. Somewhere, apparently, your toaster has a LinkedIn account. But your wooden boat? Not so much. No cloud. No app. No server farms. No digital footprint. Just a wooden hull sitting in a shed. Waiting. For you. With a wrench.
I am ready
Okay, maybe that’s not a legitimate reason to buy a 1930 Chris-Craft. But I think there is a legitimate reason to pay attention to what’s happening. Analog isn’t nostalgia. Maybe it’s a reaction. Maybe after decades of making everything smarter, faster and more complicated, we’re beginning to appreciate things that are simply real. Things that don’t need an update. Things that don’t become useless because somebody stopped supporting them. Things that can still be fixed by a human being. That’s why the old stuff is starting to look pretty good. Analog isn’t the past. Analog is the future.
Lotta truth there
The irony of this being done on a digital platform, while you read it on your digital tool did not escape me BTW
My thoughts exactly, only you said it much better than I could!
Amen! Crew Chief & I have long been proponents of limiting the digital invasion. I see it with our son, his wife, some of his cousins & their spouses, as well.
God, I hope you are right and the younger people start liking real, physical and analog things. I, for one, have never felt that I “couldn’t get enough digital”. I was totally comfortable in the analog world.
Nice to see one of the greats from the Michigan gang in your last photo. Boat the Blue starts tomorrow. Woohoo!
Wow.
Thank heavens, it can’t happen fast enough. If Covid wasn’t the clue that we ARE indeed, social animals that need to use all of our senses with each other, digital can be put back in its corner.
Even better news is that everything in my barns and boathouses has a hope for the future.
Me? I’m just old now and didn’t ever give a damn about new, so I’m back in style with white button downs, jeans or khakis and no socks.
Whew!
Wow!! Very appropriate commentary!!! There is something about hands-on that is so appealing ! Great perspective!!
I certainly hope you’re right. Now, this “old stuff” is “new” to the newer generation. I remember when the boys were young, I had to use a loaner car while my car was in the shop. It was a very basic car with manual windows. The boys sat in the back seat fascinated by manually rolling the windows up and down. They called them “crankers” and wanted me to buy this car because it had “cool crankers”. I thought, Wow, they’ve never seen this before.
When somebody sets off an EMP device and fries all the computer chips, I can still burnish the points with a dollar bill and go boating.
Well stated. I agree that an older used car or boat that has not been restored, but cared for, is much more desirable… A 60 year old car or boat seems “funny” when the finish is perfect.. it should should document its history and use over the years . PLus old stuff is easier to diagnose and repair oneself,… no computers needed, just the old hard copy shop manuals…. not so with the “digital world of stuff” I still blown away in the number of people who cant drive a stick shift…
Great story! I to love analog stuff. I also love paper maps….never leave on a trip without them. The simpler stuff is, the better. I really think though, that some of what we feel about the older stuff, is the memories and emotions they invoke. However, you can’t stop “progress” and some of it is really is beneficial.
I think you are very correct. I embraced computers and desktop publishing and autocad and a smartphone and an electric car….and then I went running back to the 1930 boat, the 65 MG, and a real classic car magazine.
My kids (in their twenties) work in IT, but want the old Honda civics, the old boat, and my car. Someday. I aint dead yet. They hate and do not want a new car. A big house? Nope. A small house with land to play on.
One of your best thoughts post. This morning, at dawn, I took my analog pocket trawler on a ass rockin trip out one river, up the bay, up another river…getting new thru hulls…would do it myself if I had a travel lift….great day, great boat, and on here great analog REAL friends. John in Va
A couple of years ago I bought the ultimate analog cooker… a Big Green Egg. Soon after, I added an electronic damper controller to use on long, low cooks to make overnight cooks easier.
Guess what failed? Not the egg.
I am going back to the analog damper and having to get up a couple of times during overnight cooks.
Regards, Michael